


heart problems (and other co-morbidities)

by Elocin000



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Graphic Description of Injuries, Humor, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Smut, a bit of angst, graphic description of medical procedures, implied seho, side baekxing, side xiuchen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:21:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 35,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27643361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elocin000/pseuds/Elocin000
Summary: nothing much, just a love story between a doctor and a police officer
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 36
Kudos: 104
Collections: Chansoo fest: Lockdown





	heart problems (and other co-morbidities)

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #30: Chanyeol is a doctor in the emergency room and Kyungsoo is a cute police officer who is always bringing in injured people for Chanyeol to treat. One day Chanyeol is surprised to find Kyungsoo in the emergency room without anyone because he is the one who is injured.
> 
> This fanfic is part of Chansoo Fest Round 1: Lockdown.
> 
> To the prompter: I hope you don't mind the slight change I did on the prompt. Instead of ER doctor, Chanyeol is a cardiothoracic surgeon. But as a whole, we’ll proceed as what you stated in your prompt. I dont know why but i have a thing for cardiothoracic surgeons even though i havent met one in my life. lol. I hope I did justice to your prompt!
> 
> Disclaimer: This is purely fictional. The medical procedures here are not that accurate. Everything was just a product of my watching of medical kdramas and my limited knowledge of hospital procedures. Though, I did my research just to make things a bit believable.
> 
> Thank you to my beta-reader, fei, for your patience with this long-ass fic just to satisfy my fixation for medical au. lol. thank you for your patience with me as well, listening to my frustrations about how I wanted to make this whole medical au work when I was also on the verge of dropping the whole thing. tough times. thank you for your encouragement!
> 
> Lastly, thank you to the mods for running this fic fest. it was a fun experience to be part of this! thank you for your encouragement too when you first read the draft of this. thank you for your hard work! 
> 
> Is there anything else i need to mention that i forgot??? probably none?
> 
> well then, enjoy reading!

It all started when Park Chanyeol had become a delivery boy to a fellow doctor in the Emergency Room from another fellow doctor.

He was about to go home after his duty in the hospital, but he had run into Dr. Kim Junmyeon of General Surgery who had seemed to be in a bit of a dilemma. Dr. Kim was about to go to the Emergency Room (ER) to give some research files to the chief of ER, Dr. Zhang Yixing, but he had gotten a call that he needed to go to the operating room because of an emergency surgery he had to perform.

Chanyeol, being the good person that he was, had offered to bring the document and give it to Dr. Zhang instead. Dr. Kim looked so relieved. He had profusely thanked him and bolted off to the OR.

So now, Chanyeol found himself entering the ER holding the document in question and his satchel bag. The ER wasn’t as chaotic as it normally was, and there was a lull in the activities as a few nurses and doctors attended the patients. 

He went straight to the nurse station to find Dr. Zhang. Luckily, the nurse behind the counter was someone he knew.

“Hey, Jongin, long time no see!” Chanyeol approached the counter.

Kim Jongin turned towards him and blinked in surprise. “Dr. Park! What brings you here to the ER?”

“Oh, I was looking for Dr. Zhang Yixing, I have something to give to him. Do you know where he is?”

“He’s in the Radiology Room. Luckily, I was about to go there to get the x-ray result of one of the patients. I’ll tell him that you’re looking for him.”

“Yeah, that would be great, thank you!”

So the nurse left, leaving the station empty, aside from him. He watched a nurse and a doctor scurried around to take a look at the patients. Suddenly, the doors of the ER leading outside burst open. There were paramedics, a police officer, and a patient in the stretcher being wheeled into the room.

But no one was attending the newcomers since the remaining medical personnel was busy with their respective patients.

“A doctor please!” The paramedic shouted.

Chanyeol blinked and looked around. No doctor seemed free enough to come to their aid.

Chanyeol sighed. Being the good person that he was, he was going to step in even though it wasn’t his duty anymore and he was not even an Emergency Medicine doctor. He was a Cardiothoracic Surgeon.

He put his satchel on the counter and fished out his stethoscope inside the bag. He left his things on the counter and went to the newcomer.

“What’s the status?” He asked the paramedic. Chanyeol was looking down at the patient who was groaning in pain. His eyes were closed. He had gauze on his forehead, a busted lip, a neck brace on, and a first-aid cast on his left leg. Chanyeol almost wrinkled his nose, the man reeked of alcohol.

“Conscious. Blood Pressure 120/80, possible alcohol intoxication, possible ankle fracture, also a small laceration on the forehead. Involved in a gang fight.”

Chanyeol hummed at the paramedics. “Please transfer him on the bed.”

The paramedics nodded and wheeled the stretcher to the nearest empty bed. Chanyeol followed. After transferring the patient, the paramedics left. Though, the police officer remained, standing quietly by the bed. Chanyeol let him. He pulled on a pair of gloves and started to examine the patient for additional injuries. So far, there was none. He tried to talk to the patient but the patient just answered him in a slurred and garbled speech. Though, he seemed aware of his situation.

“What happened to him?” He asked the police officer standing on the other side of the bed as he used the stethoscope on the patient. His breathing and heart rate seemed to be normal, so he wouldn’t worry that much about alcohol intoxication. He peeled off the gauze pad on his head. The laceration was a bit long and deep and needed to be stitched.

“He was drinking with his buddies when a gang with a grudge against him arrived and beat him up. I saw some of them holding a pole, so probably he got those injuries when they hit him with it,” the police officer summarized.

Chanyeol glanced up at the officer. He had a deep and cold voice. He couldn’t see his face clearly since the police cap was sitting low on his face.

“Dr. Park! What-”

Chanyeol straightened up. Jongin was at the foot of the bed. “The patient is coherent enough, so request for a BAC test for him stat. Put this man on an IV; PNSS 1 liter, request for labs stat, and x-ray for his leg. And give me a size 6-0 thread and a needle, he needs suturing too.” He turned to the police officer. “And you, Mr. Officer, please proceed to the waiting area while we treat our patient.”

The police officer nodded. He and Jongin walked out.

Chanyeol glanced at the retreating figure of the officer. He noticed that Jongin was talking to him. They seemed to know each other. He then pulled the curtains closed to give him and the patient some privacy.

A while later, Chanyeol headed out of the ER and found the police officer in the waiting area, sitting on one of the benches. The doctor paused. The officer had removed his cap, and his serious face was looking down at the tiles.

A breathtaking, handsome serious face, if Chanyeol would add.

He approached the police officer, holding the patient’s BAC, lab, and x-ray results. When he cleared his throat, the officer looked in his direction.

The officer’s eyes were round as he blinked owlishly at him. Chanyeol would probably melt on the spot by the way the cute officer had looked at him. But he couldn’t melt just yet when he had to explain the patient's situation to him first. Then melt later.

The officer stood up.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Park Chanyeol, the attending of the patient,” Chanyeol said. “So, uh, officer….”

“Do,” the police said. “I’m Lieutenant Do Kyungsoo,”

“Right, officer Do, the patient isn’t in critical danger. His labs are mostly normal, he’s not in danger of alcohol intoxication either. Our concern right now is his head injury and the leg injury, his x-ray showed that he’s got a fracture…” He referred to the results he’s holding. “... on the tibia-fibula part of the leg that would need surgery. I already referred the patient to an Orthopedic surgeon as well as a Neurosurgeon for further evaluation of his injuries. Right now, we need to contact his immediate family. We need their consent for surgery and other evaluations needed of the patient.”

“I already contacted them. They’re on their way.” Officer Do said.

“Great! Let’s wait for the family to arrive. The patient dozed off already while I was stitching up his wound.”

Officer Do nodded.

Chanyeol hesitated to leave. He knew he wanted to talk more to this cutie officer, but he also didn’t want to come at him too strongly when they had just met. He was about to turn around, a bit saddened that this was probably the first and last that they were going to meet.

“Are you a new doctor here…? It’s my first time seeing you in the ER.”

The doctor whipped his head at the officer who was staring at him. Seriously, his big round eyes were mesmerizing to look at. And as cliche, as it may be, he could stare back at it forever.

No, he had been working here for seven years. The thing was, ER wasn’t his territory. He was usually cooped up in the operating room, his clinic, or his office. He rarely went down to the pit, well, save for some occasions when a fellow doctor would refer a patient to him or in this case, someone had asked him for a favor and he was here now.

“Not really, I’ve been for a while now…” Chanyeol answered. “You talk like you’re here in the ER often…”

Officer Do chuckled. “You might not believe it but I am. I’ve been assigned to road patrol recently so I’ve been here more than I can count on my fingers, since last month. I even know most of the doctors and nurses in the ER. Well, except for you…”

Chanyeol chuckled too. That was interesting. Maybe, this wouldn’t be the last time that he would be able to meet this cutie officer after all…

After the referrals had been done and the patient had been wheeled to the operating room, and Officer Do had taken his leave when the family arrived, Chanyeol went straight to the nurse station. Nurse Jongin was refilling a jar with cotton balls. Dr. Zhang was there too, looking down at the patient’s chart on the counter. Dr. Zhang smiled when he saw a fellow doctor.

“Thanks for bringing the file, Dr. Park.” Dr. Zhang said. “And I’m sorry for troubling you earlier, that you had to attend one of our patients. We’re a bit short-staffed nowadays after Dr. Wu Kris and Dr. Kim Jongdae were sent to China for a medical forum…”

“It’s alright,” Chanyeol assured. “I didn’t have anything on my plate right now anyway, I’m glad I could be of help.” Then he turned to Jongin who was still busy refilling another jar. “Hey, Jongin, so uh, you know the police officer who brought a patient earlier…”

“Oh, Kyungsoo?” Jongin glanced at him. “Why? Do you know him?”

“Not really, but is it true that he’s here often?”

Dr. Zhang butted in. “Yeah, honestly, we don’t know where he’s finding those patients but he’s always here at least once or thrice a week bringing in someone who got stabbed or bruised up, depends. We’ve gotten used to it.”

“What day and time is he here usually..?” Chanyeol asked.

“Nighttime mostly like earlier, since that’s probably his shift and the days are just random, he’ll just pop out in here--” Dr. Zhang paused. “Why are you asking..?”

“Nothing.”Chanyeol shrugged. “I was just curious that’s all…”

He ignored the way Jongin was raising an eyebrow at him.

  
  
The next night, after his duty, Chanyeol wandered back to the ER. The chances of seeing the cute officer were really slim, still, he took it like a champ and just hoped for a miracle even though he was an atheist. 

The scene that greeted him in the ER wasn’t as peaceful as it was the last time he had come. He halted in his tracks. It was a flurry of chaos. Doctors were barking orders. There were casualties everywhere; patients bloodied and injured sprawled on the beds, and on the chairs when the beds were fully occupied. Other medical personnel tried to assist as many patients as they could.

“What happened here?” Chanyeol held the arm of a nurse who passed by him.

“There was a collision of cars a few blocks away from here.” The nurse answered. “Most of the casualties were brought here since we’re the nearest hospital.” She looked worried. “And this happened when we lack ER specialists right now…” Chanyeol released her and the nurse ran off to one direction to assist another incoming patient.

“Dr. Park!” Someone held him by his wrist, which made him almost jump up a foot in the air in surprise.

Chanyeol whipped his head around and saw Kyungsoo was the one who had held his wrist. Chanyeol’s heart was secretly doing cartwheels.

“Can you check the patient I brought in?”

That made him alert. “Was the patient involved in the collision accident?”

“No, he’s not.” They started to walk. Chanyeol fished out his stethoscope from his white coat.

“I was patrolling the area when I saw a man collapsed on the sidewalk, with his daughter asking for help…” Officer Do narrated. They reached the bed. A girl, probably around eight, stood by the bedside. She was crying.

The patient’s chest was bare and he was hooked to the heart monitor and IV line. There was also an oxygen mask on his face. The patient looked unconscious. The doctor looked at the heart monitor. The numbers on the monitor were slowly dropping. He moved closer to the patient. The patient’s nails were bluish, and the doctor also noticed his swollen ankle. He looked pale.

“He was conscious when I brought him here.” Officer Do said. “But he had difficulty in breathing earlier. A doctor assisted us when we came here, but he left when there was suddenly an influx of patients. The doctor said he would come back but he didn’t and the patient is not looking good, and he lost consciousness seconds ago.”

Chanyeol put on his stethoscope and started to examine the patient with it as the heart monitor started beeping. 

Chanyeol looked up at the monitor. It was flat-lining.

The doctor cursed mentally.

He hopped on the bed and started to do chest compressions on the patient.

The girl started to cry harder as if sensing that something was not right with her father.

“Ahjussi, please save my dad, please…”

Chanyeol hopped down from the bed and dragged the nearest defibrillator to the bed. He turned it on and set it on the desired joules. He put a gel on the pads of the paddles and shocked the patient. He looked up at the heart monitor.

No significant changes. He put down the paddles and repeated the chest compression.

“Dr. Park, you’re here again-”

Jongin appeared.

“I need to intubate the patient and bring me an epi, the patient is unresponsive.” Chanyeol huffed as he continued to give chest compressions to the man.

The nurse immediately obliged. The patient was still unresponsive from the second shock from the defibrillator by the time Jongin came back with the things that Chanyeol needed.

Chanyeol started the intubation as he inserted the laryngoscope into the patient’s mouth. Meanwhile, Jongin was doing chest compressions. That’s when he realized that the police officer and the girl were still there.

“Officer, please wait at the waiting area, and bring the pretty girl with you.” Chanyeol was pulling out the stylet from the endotracheal tube that was also inserted in the patient’s mouth after he had removed the laryngoscope.

Chanyeol glanced up.

Officer Do blinked at him as if waking from a daze. “Y-yeah…”

But the girl didn’t seem to want to leave. She was still crying. “Ahjussi, will my dad be okay?”

Chanyeol could only briefly stare at the kid. A lot of the patient's relatives had asked him the same thing over time but it was also the only thing he could not answer. As a doctor, he couldn’t give false hope to the patient’s relative. Before he could decide what to say, Officer Do steered the girl away.

A while later, Dr. Park approached Officer Do and the kid in the waiting area. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his white coat. The officer immediately saw him. He sat up straighter. He couldn’t stand up since the girl had fallen asleep on his lap. There was a police jacket wrapped around her.

Chanyeol stood before them.

“W-what happened?” Officer Do was looking at him with wide eyes again. “Is Seol’s dad…?”

“He’s okay for the time being…”

Officer Do released the breath he was holding.

“But it doesn’t mean he’s not in critical condition,” Chanyeol said. “He’s been transferred to the ICU and his CT scan doesn’t look good. I need to speak with his immediate family-”

“His mother is on the way.” Officer Do said. “He’s a single father taking care of his only daughter.” He looked down at the girl’s sleeping form.

“I see.” Chanyeol nodded.

The girl suddenly stirred and opened her eyes. She immediately saw Chanyeol and sat up.

“Ahjussi, is my dad okay-?”

Chanyeol knelt down to the kid’s eye level. “Your dad is doing fine…” _For now_ he wanted to add but decided not to.

“Really?” Seol’s eyes lit up. “So can we go home now?”

“Not yet, because your dad needs to heal first, here in the hospital.”

Seol frowned. “Is my dad really sick?”

“Yes, he is sick. But you know, your dad is like a warrior right now, a very brave warrior who is fighting his sickness away, fighting the bad guys away.”

Seol nodded as if she understood the situation very well. “My dad says the same thing when I have a fever. Fevers are bad guys. I’ve fought them very well before. My dad has a fever too?”

“Yes, and like you, he has to fight the bad guys as well while staying here in the hospital.”

Seol nodded again as if satisfied. “My dad is very brave. I’m sure he can easily fight the bad guys!” She seemed to cheer up from the mere thought of it.

Chanyeol was relieved. “Since you’ve been a good girl, do you want this?” He produced a lollipop from the pocket of his white coat.”

Seol’s eyes lit up. She nodded eagerly.

“I changed my mind. Kids shouldn’t have sweets at night.” Chanyeol said.

“What?” Seol looked crestfallen.

“Seriously?” Officer Do quipped. “You’re terrorizing a kid for that?”

Chanyeol acted like he was about to give the lollipop to Seol. When she was about to take it, he moved his hand away.

Seol pouted. “Ahjussi…”

Officer Do laughed.

Chanyeol was taken aback by Officer Do’s laugh when he noticed how his lips turned into a heart shape when he had laughed and his eyes turned into crescents. 

Chanyeol swore. If that wasn’t the cutest thing that he had ever seen in his entire life, he didn’t know what was.

“Ahjussi, don’t be so petty.” She complained.

He gazed down at Seol and raised an eyebrow at her. “What did you say? Petty? I was really about to give it to you but I’m changing my mind again-”

“And here I was thinking that you’re so nice, and handsome too…..” Seol trailed off.

Kyungsoo wouldn’t stop giggling.

“Wow,” Chanyeol said. “I can already tell that this kid has a bright future ahead. She’s got good eyes…”

“What’s the connection between a bright future and good eyes…?” Officer Do tried to ask, sobering up.

Chanyeol ignored him. He gave the lollipop to the girl.

Seol eagerly accepted it. “Thank you, ahjussi..”

Chanyeol smiled, satisfied.

  
  
  
“You seriously need more manpower. And you also need this.” Chanyeol shoved a cup of hot coffee into Dr. Zhang’s hand. He did the same to Jongin, handing another cup of coffee to him. “You barely managed last night..”

Chanyeol was back at the ER. The nurse was behind the counter as usual and the doctor was lounging by the same counter. There weren’t many patients to tend to.

“You’re here again.” Dr. Zhang stated. “And thank you for helping last night.”

After treating the patient that Officer Do had brought in, Chanyeol hadn’t stopped there. He had helped stabilize the ER from the chaos of the collision accident last night.

“You're welcome, but seriously, aren’t you going to do something about it? I feel like you’re the only ER specialist around, besides the interns and residents.”

“Why are you so concerned about our ER problems all of a sudden?” Jongin butted in.

“As a fellow doctor, I just wanted to help.”

“Thank you so much for your concern, Chanyeol.” Dr. Zhang smiled, sipping on his coffee. “But I’ve already asked for more specialists at Emergency Medicine. I’m just waiting for the approval-”

“I volunteer.” Chanyeol raised his three fingers in Hunger Games' style.

“What?”

“If you’ve forgotten, I am a double certified surgeon who is also specializing in Emergency Medicine. I’ve had a lot of experience in trauma cases since I used to be an army doctor in Syria.”

“That’s nice. But why are you asking for an extra load? Aren’t you busy enough in the OR, doing rounds, and with your outpatients?” Dr. Zhang asked.

Chanyeol sighed dramatically. “You know as a doctor, we need to constantly challenge ourselves in order to learn and improve. And in order to learn, one must have gained experiences in whatever field that is available for us-”

“This is because of Kyungsoo, isn't it?” Jongin interrupted.

Dr. Zhang raised an eyebrow at Jongin. “Kyungsoo? The police officer that’s frequently visiting us and bringing patients from God knows where?”

“That Kyungsoo,” Jongin confirmed.

“What does he have to do with this..?” Chanyeol asked meekly.

“Cut the bullshit,” Jongin said. “You’re suddenly interested in dropping by the ER after meeting Kyungsoo.” He suddenly wiggled his eyebrows at Chanyeol over his cup of coffee. “Having a little crush, aren’t we?”

“Chanyeol,” Dr. Zhang looked suddenly disappointed. “Here I was thinking that you’re helping out because you’re genuinely concerned about us as a fellow doctor. But you have your hidden agenda.”

“Yixing, I genuinely wanted to help!” Chanyeol defended. “If I were just doing this because of Kyungsoo--” It’s still a bit weird referring to him by his first name since he had gotten used to calling him Officer Do. But he liked the sound of his name on his tongue. Now, he suddenly wanted to be on a first-name basis with the cute officer soon. “--I wouldn’t have continued helping you last night. I would just stop after treating the patient Kyungsoo brought in! Fine. I admit, aside from helping you, I am interested in Kyungsoo too, that's why I wanted to be here.”

“There you go,” Jongin said.

“Why don’t you just get his phone number like a normal person would instead of slaving yourself into working more hours just to see him?” Yixing asked.

“I’ve been slaving in this hospital for years. That’s nothing new. Well, do you have his phone number to make my life easier?” He looked at Jongin too.

But the nurse and doctor shrugged.

“See! Being here is my only shot at being close to him. Besides, I don't want to scare him off by declaring my affection to him when we’ve just met and he barely knows me.”

“And what? Are you going to use my ER as your mating place or something?” Yixing asked again.

“Mating- that’s not what I meant. I’m still going to do my duty as the good doctor that I am while I’m here. But being here is also my excuse to see him often.”

“Wow, dude.” Jongin shook his head in amazement. “You got it bad for him that easily?”

“Shut up. My love life is non-existent and accumulating spider webs and dust for a long time. It’s time to revive it. And you know once I set up my mind on something, I never back down. So come on, Yixing, it’s practically a win-win for the both of us. You’re going to have an additional and experienced specialist in no time, and I get to see my crush often!”

Dr. Zhang narrowed his eyes at Chanyeol. Meanwhile, Chanyeol batted his eyelashes back at him for effect.

“Fine-”

“Yes-!”

“Don’t get too excited, punk.” Dr. Zhang said. “This is going to be a temporary arrangement until Dr. Wu and Dr. Kim come back from China, which is a month from now.”

“Of course.” Chanyeol nodded eagerly.

“Coordinate your schedule with us. Notify us ahead of time, if you’ve got a scheduled OR procedure or outpatient duties or doing rounds that would coincide with your duty here. Lastly, my ER is not your mating place, Chanyeol. I swear to God, if I see you two flirting around here, I am going to kick you two out, no questions asked, and you will be banned from here.”

“Ouch. Banning me is a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

“Don’t you want to be here?”

“Of course, I want to! But I also have another favor to ask-”

“You are really greedy, aren’t you?”

Chanyeol nodded.

Dr. Zhang snorted. “You are also shameless. What is it?”

“If Kyungsoo comes here, please give his patients to me. The only way I can talk to him right now is by telling him the status of the patients he’s bringing in.”

“That’s something we can’t control.” Dr. Zhang argued. “What if you’re already attending a patient when he comes?”

“Maybe we can switch up or something if we’re not dealing with life and death situations with our respective patients….?” 

“Wow, you are really something, Park Chanyeol. Do you think that’s something so easy to do? Is this a playground for you?”

“Of course not! But I don’t know how else I can get closer to Kyungsoo without freaking him out or springing myself on him? I don’t want to weird him out. Come on, please….?”

“Aren’t you asking too much?”

“I even brought you coffee!”

Dr. Zhang’s eyes widened and looked down at his coffee. Then back at Chanyeol. “Wha- This coffee is for- Wow. I really thought you are genuinely concerned for our well-being-”

“That’s partly my reason for bringing in the coffee of course-!”

“Forget it.” Dr. Zhang handed the coffee back to Chanyeol. “Be here in the ER tomorrow afternoon. No guarantees for your Kyungsoo.” He started to walk away.

“Yixing!” Chanyeol whined, almost stomping his feet. He was getting desperate.

“I’m going to give you Dr. Byun’s number!” Chanyeol said hastily.

Dr. Zhang stopped in his tracks, though his back was still facing Chanyeol. He was well aware of Dr. Zhang’s long time and silent crush on the Pediatric Surgeon. It was beyond Chanyeol why Dr. Zhang never acted on it and remained silent about it when Byun Baekhyun was also single. And also, Chanyeol mentally noted to ask for forgiveness from his best friend later for sacrificing him for the sake of his own love life.

“Seriously?” Dr. Zhang turned around at Chanyeol. Chanyeol deflated. His plan to get close to Kyungsoo was doomed even before it started. But perhaps he could find a way around to get closer to the police officer. He was still going to be on duty in the ER after all. At least, he could see Kyungsoo as much as he could. That would be enough.

Dr. Zhang strode towards him and suddenly grinned. He snatched back his coffee from Chanyeol’s grasp. “You should have told me that earlier. Deal. I’m going to tell the interns and residents that Kyungsoo’s patient is in your care.” Dr. Zhang clapped him on the shoulder. “So, where’s Dr. Byun’s number?”

“Wow.” Jongin marveled as he watched the whole exchange. His chin was propped on his hand and his elbow was on the countertop. “Whipped culture at its finest. You are all ridiculous.”

Chanyeol glared at Jongin. “Don’t let me catch you ogling at someone. I’m not going to let you live it down.” 

Nonetheless, a deal had been made.

  
  
  
Chanyeol had just finished prescribing medicine to the patient when the light of his night came. As usual, Kyungsoo was accompanied by paramedics and a casualty on the stretcher. The doctor quickly went to them.

“What happened?” Chanyeol asked.

“Fell off the motorcycle.” The paramedics answered. “Stable vital signs. Possible dislocated right shoulder and arm. Abrasions on the legs and on the face.”

Chanyeol nodded. “Transfer him on the bed.” 

The paramedics obliged. Chanyeol gave Kyungsoo a curt nod as the patient was being transferred to a bed, and then Chanyeol got busy with attending the patient.

It had been like this between Kyungsoo and Chanyeol for the past few days that the police officer brought in casualties. They would give each other a curt nod, Chanyeol would attend the patient, then later on, while the immediate family hadn’t arrived yet, the doctor would relay the status of the patient to Kyungsoo. 

The patients that the police officer was bringing in ranged from having abrasions and being involved mostly in gang fights to major injuries such as being impaled by a loose bar, which was the case today.

“He fell from the scaffolding on a construction site.” One of the residents said to a fellow resident standing next to Chanyeol. Kyungsoo was standing quietly on his other side.

They all watched as the paramedics carefully cut the protruding bar. The bar was a bit long so it had to be cut down to a smaller size so it wouldn’t be hard to pull out from the body. Though, pulling it out would be Chanyeol’s job. The doctor was looking at the chest x-ray in the tablet he was holding, how the loose bar punctured the left lung and narrowly missed the heart. Though, he couldn’t be that sure what had been affected until they opened up the patient.

“It’s going to be a bloody surgery...” The resident mused out loud. Chanyeol referred to him as B1 since he often forgot people’s surnames. He could probably perform surgery with his eyes closed but was unable to recall people’s names easily.

“Bet it is,” B2 said, the other resident. He turned to Chanyeol. “Can I assist you with this one, doc?” He jammed his thumb towards the patient.

B1 turned at B2 “Yah! I thought I was the one who’s going to assist Dr. Park next time?”

The bar had been successfully cut.

“Are you going to operate on him?” Kyungsoo suddenly asked. 

Chanyeol almost jumped in surprise. Kyungsoo had been so quiet that Chanyeol thought he had no plans on speaking more that night aside from narrating what had happened to the patient.

“Y-yeah. I am.”

Kyungsoo nodded. Chanyeol guessed that was their conversation for that night. The way it had been recently when the police officer was bringing in casualty.

So he looked at the nurse standing at the bedside. “Is the OR ready?” 

“Yes, Dr. Park.” The nurse said. “We’ve also secured the blood bank.”

He turned to the residents. “B2 you’re up. Because you’re that shameless. B1 you’re going to assist me tomorrow for two surgeries: stent and valve replacement.”

“What-” B2 said.

B1 looked like he had been given an early Christmas gift.

Chanyeol gave Kyungsoo one last nod before walking away, stretching his limbs along the way. It was going to be a long night.

Later, Chanyeol was surprised to see Kyungsoo sitting on the bench in the waiting area of the operating room together with the family of the patient. He thought that the police officer had already left. It was already four o’clock in the morning. The surgery had been successful of course, and the patient was already in the recovery room.

The relatives immediately crowded Chanyeol to ask how the patient was doing. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo stayed behind. The doctor explained the situation to them and told them that the surgery had been successful. The relatives cried in relief.

“Do you know the patient?” Chanyeol asked Kyungsoo. They were walking in an empty hallway after they had left the patient’s relatives. The doctor didn’t know how they ended up walking side by side like that and talking again, but he was weeping in joy internally. He felt like he could do a dozen surgeries despite how tired he felt at that moment.

“The patient owned a great samgyupsal place. We eat there often.” Kyungsoo answered. “And I was just talking to him the other day, and the next time I saw him again was him impaled on a pole.”

Chanyeol paused and turned to him. “Are you okay? Seeing something like that? It can be traumatizing…”

Kyungsoo nodded. “That’s not the first grotesque thing I’ve seen, being police. I’ve gotten used to it, I guess. I was just glad that he made it out alive.”

“Well, to be honest, he’s still in recovery. A lot of things could still happen. We still need to continuously monitor him.”

“I know he’ll be well soon enough though.”

“Right, it all depends on the patient and his willpower to live-”

“And because you’re a great doctor too.”

Chanyeol’s heart almost dropped on the floor. He bit the inside of his cheek to refrain from smiling a little too much.

“Aish,” Chanyeol scratched the back of his neck, face flustered. “That was too sudden... But thank you..”

Kyungsoo laughed. Chanyeol was on the verge of a cardiac arrest. “You act like it’s your first time receiving a compliment. I’m sure you’ve been complimented a lot of times.”

 _But it’s different because it’s coming from you._ Chanyeol almost blurted out. Instead, he spoke. “I don’t want to act as self-centered and narcissistic most of the time.”

Kyungsoo continued to smile at him, his eyes turning into crescents, and it was doing a lot of things to Chanyeol. He was holding himself back and kept on chanting in his head that he didn’t want to be a weirdo and blow off his shot with Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo looked like a reserved type of person and Chanyeol felt like he needed to take things slow and calm the fuck down. 

“Anyway, is your shift done for today?” Kyungsoo asked.

Chanyeol nodded. He could have been gone home hours ago if not for the surgery. But of course, it was his duty. “I’m about to head home. I’ll just probably grab a taxi since I can’t drive in this state-”

“I can drive you home if you’d like. Though, you’ll be riding a police car….”

Chanyeol wanted to kiss Yixing on the cheeks tomorrow for letting him work in the ER.

“Oh, are you sure? I don’t want to hassle you-”

“It’s okay, it’s also my thanks for saving the patient earlier.”

Chanyeol was grinning. He couldn’t help it this time. “Yeah, sure, just let me get my things and let me change.” He was still wearing his light blue surgeon’s scrub shirt. “Let’s meet up in front of the lobby?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “Okay.”

They parted ways, and Chanyeol may or may have not skipped a little on the way to the locker room.

“Wow, it’s my first time riding in a police car,” Chanyeol said, first thing when he climbed inside the passenger's seat next to Kyungsoo. He had changed into a black t-shirt, and was hugging his backpack in his lap.

Kyungsoo snorted. “It’s just a car with a siren attached.”

The doctor buckled up his seatbelt. “Still feel kinda different. I feel like I’ve committed a crime.”

“Did you?” Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at him. “Commit a crime. We’re going to a police station instead of your house then.”

“Tsk, I’m a law-abiding citizen. I’ve never even stolen anything in my life.”

“Are you sure?” Kyungsoo said.

“Sure what?” Chanyeol was checking his phone for any emergency messages and if he had to go back to the hospital while they were still there. Thank God, there was none.

“That you haven’t stolen anything?”

Chanyeol glanced up at him with a frown. “Well, I think I might have stolen a few Pepero from my sister’s stash a long time ago. Am I going to jail for that?”

Kyungsoo laughed. “Well, as long as your sister is not turning you over or she’s not hiding any evidence against you, you’re safe.”

“Thank God. I’m an expert Pepero thief, I never leave any traces behind.” Chanyeol grinned.

Kyungsoo continued to laugh. “Put your address on the navi so we can get you home.”

“Aye, aye, captain.” The doctor complied.

Chanyeol really wanted to talk to Kyungsoo more on the way. But as soon as they hit the road, his eyes closed before he knew it.

And then he woke up to Kyungsoo’s light tap on his shoulder. Chanyeol blinked his eyes open.

“We’re here, Chanyeol, or at least I think this is the right place..” Kyungsoo said in a low voice.

Chanyeol blinked some more at Kyungsoo who was leaning forward at him.

Then the doctor sighed. He slouched back on the seat and closed his eyes. “Just let me sleep here.”

Kyungsoo laughed softly. And Chanyeol was so disappointed that he fell asleep and passed up the opportunity to talk to the officer. They could have talked about a lot of things, and maybe, he could have gotten Kyungsoo's phone number too. Would it be too forward to ask for his number? Would it be awkward or weird? The officer had been nothing but civil to him, maybe all the goodness that Kyungsoo had shown to him was just because he was being a good officer and nothing more. And probably, the police officer was straight as a pole. Or worse, he’s already in a relationship or married.

“Dr. Park....”

“That’s nice,” Chanyeol said with his eyes still closed. “But I’d prefer not to be too formal with you. Call me by my name again and I’ll wake up.”

“You’re awake though,”

“No, I’m just sleep-talking..”

Kyungsoo chuckled. “Chanyeol,”

He pretended not to hear. Just for the sake of Kyungsoo calling him again.

“Seriously, Chanyeol…” Kyungsoo poked him on his cheek.

He couldn’t help but smile and opened his eyes. “Fine. I’m up.” He groaned and unbuckled his seatbelt. He opened the car door.

“Chanyeol…”

Chanyeol whipped his head at him, ready to hear anything Kyungsoo would say, so he could stay by his side a little bit longer.

“Rest well…”

He smiled again. “Yeah, you too, and thanks for the ride, Kyungsoo.”

He climbed down the car and stretched his long limbs once again. He noticed the moon high up in the sky as he walked towards his apartment building. It was crescent and bright. He took out his phone and took a picture of it. He knew some camera tricks to perfectly capture the moon sky with a phone. He was a big fan of space and the stars, and he might have been an astronaut in another life.

He looked down at his phone at the captured image. He smiled, satisfied. The shape of the moon suddenly reminded him of someone’s eyes.

Speaking of someone, he hadn’t heard the car leaving…

He looked to the side.

The police car was still there. Do Kyungsoo was staring at him through the windshield.

  
  
  
The casualties that Kyungsoo was bringing in also ranged from quiet and obedient to people who would blow up a fuss and could almost wreak havoc in the ER.

“Ma’am!” Chanyeol tried to subdue the patient, who had a bandage wrapped around her head. Her temple was bleeding and the blood was starting to ooze out from the bandage and slide down her face. “Let’s calm down first, you are literally bleeding right now.”

“I don’t care!” The patient howled. “I am going to kill that bitch behind you. That whore who stole my husband-!”

Right. There’s patient no. 2 behind Chanyeol who needed to be subdued too.

“Me?” Patient no. 2 howled back. She had a splint on her right leg and a cast on her left arm. And to Chanyeol’s horror, she was on her feet, ready to attack patient no. 1. “Your husband lied to me that he’s got a wife, is it my fault now?!”

They were reported to have fallen down the staircase in a shop when patient no. 1 had attacked patient no. 2. And there would probably be a Round 2 of their wrestling match as patient no. 2 lunged forward.

“Hey, you can’t move too much! You might hurt your leg even more!” Chanyeol tried to make himself a barrier between the two. Kyungsoo was holding down patient no. 2 and Jongin and Yixing were trying to hold down patient no. 1.

“Watch out for the leg, Kyungsoo, oh my God-!”

It must have been a mistake to make himself a barrier because he got sandwiched between the two, and now he was the one who was starting to receive the hits instead.

“Yah-!” Chanyeol tried to say. His hair got pulled and yanked down as the two yelled at each other. Chanyeol’s eardrums would probably shatter too, among other things that would break in his body, if this didn’t stop.

Yixing was barking orders to the nurses and orderly available to help control the patients.

Chanyeol got pushed down. He didn’t know where the ladies got the strength, maybe it was the adrenaline. But it felt like he had been thrown by Incredible Hulk. He stumbled to the side, losing his balance. His face smacked into the IV pole in the corner. He might have seen stars.

Jongin was laughing at him when the chaos had ended and the patients had been subdued and successfully tended to.

“Is this funny to you?” Chanyeol pulled out a small ball of tissue from his nostrils and let Jongin see it. The tissue was tinged red with his nosebleed. He put back the tissue in his nostrils. Though, thankfully the bleeding had stopped. He was sitting in the middle of the steps that led to the hospital garden. He had gone outside for some fresh air. The breeze was cool and relaxing. The summer humidity could literally dry up his bones in the morning, but at night, the air was kinda refreshing.

“Did you miss all that thrill in the ER, doc?” Jongin was standing next to Chanyeol.

“Yeah, sure. This was why I fell in love with Emergency Medicine first.” Chanyeol said. “The action is always in the ER.”

Jongin sobered up. “But are you sure you’re okay, though? Do we need to do an MRI on you?”

Chanyeol waved him off looking up at the sky. The sky was still pretty and clear tonight. “I’ll live. I’ve been through a literal war. It will take a few more ahjummas to knock me down.”

“Alright. I’m heading back.”

Chanyeol nodded at him. “I’ll head inside a little bit later too.”

Jongin nodded back and went inside.

It was complete silence for a while, and Chanyeol was enjoying the peace when someone cleared his throat. The doctor jerked his head back in the direction of the voice. Kyungsoo was standing at the topmost step.

“Hey,” Chanyeol greeted. That was when he remembered that there’s still a tissue up his nostrils. He immediately pulled it out again and pocketed it.

“Uhm, are you okay?” Kyungsoo was not moving. He had noticed the bloodied tissue that Chanyeol had pocketed.

“I’ll live for more than a hundred years or so.” Chanyeol shrugged.

“Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo reprimanded in a low voice.

The doctor sighed. “Come here, sit with me.” He turned and faced the front again.

Thankfully, the police officer obliged and sat beside him.

Chanyeol pointed at the sky. “That’s Sirius, the one that was the brightest, a bit up to the right is the Procyon and on the bottom from Sirius, a bit to the left is Rigel Kentaurus. I think I’ve seen them up close earlier when my face smacked to the IV pole. And I’m not saying that it was a pleasant experience.” He looked at Kyungsoo who was pressing his lips together to stop himself from laughing.

“See, you’re laughing at me too, aish,” Chanyeol said but there was no malice in his tone.

“I’m sorry. But I am genuinely worried.” Kyungsoo said gravely. “And I feel kinda guilty because I brought them in.”

“Why would it be your fault?” Chanyeol sighed, a bit tired. “It’s never a mistake to bring in a person who needs medical care.”

Kyungsoo hummed. Chanyeol turned at him. The police officer was staring at him again. He was going to open his mouth to say something when Kyungsoo suddenly pointed at his face.

“Oh!” Kyungsoo said. His eyes were wide and round.

Then Kyungsoo was pulling something out from the small pouch attached to his utility belt. He produced a small white rectangular case.

Chanyeol was staring at the small case, intrigued. “What’s that?”

Kyungsoo suddenly grinned at him, eyes turning into crescents like the moon the other night. “Pororo.”

The doctor blinked. “Huh?”

The officer opened the case. Inside were Pororo band-aids. He murmured while peeling off the white pad that covered the adhesive. “You’ve got a scratch on your face.”

The doctor immediately patted his face, searching. “Where?”

But Kyungsoo swatted his hands away. He moved closer so he could put the band-aid on his face. Chanyeol’s eyes were wide and his lungs malfunctioned at the sudden proximity. Kyungsoo put the band-aid on his left cheekbone. His fingers touched Chanyeol’s skin, and the doctor could swear that it tingled. Kyungsoo was so close that Chanyeol could see the small moles on his face. Like constellations. The doctor’s fingers twitched, itching to trace those moles with his fingers, like connecting the dots.

“There you go.” Kyungsoo moved away.

Chanyeol willed his lungs to function again. He exhaled. “It's probably from earlier. Anyway, why do you have Pororo band-aids?”

Kyungsoo was tucking away his band-aid case. “I always find kids on the street, scraping their knees, or getting a scratch from playing. I give those to them. And also I like Pororo.”

Chanyeol was already thinking if he should buy that Pororo stuffed toy he had seen in the mall before and gift it to Kyungsoo. But maybe he had one already. 

“Ahh,” The doctor answered, gazing far ahead. “I like Rilakkumas. Do you know that? I have a big one in my bedroom. I like to hug it when I’m sleeping.”

Kyungsoo was giggling. “Cute.”

“Me?” Chanyeol turned his head at him.

“No, the Rilakkuma, I imagined it to be cute.”

"Ahh,"

"So, do you like outer space or something? You are well versed about the stars, and you were taking a picture of the moon last time."

Chanyeol grinned at him, glad to talk about something he liked the most. "I love them! I used to read about space when I was a kid."

For a while, Chanyeol talked about his fascination with the sky and the stars. How he had a childhood dream to be a NASA astronaut, and even though that dream had faded over time, he was still watching YouTube videos about space. He also talked about random facts about space. And all throughout if it all, Kyungsoo listened intently, and Chanyeol felt like molten steel under his piercing gaze.

  
  
  
In the morning, when Chanyeol wasn’t in the ER or OR, he would be in his clinic for his outpatients. He was busy cleaning his desk with a tissue when the nurse came into his clinic.

“Doc, your next patient is here.” Nurse Irene said.

“Okay,” Chanyeol looked up at her and nodded.

“It’s mother-in-law.” Irene added.

“Oh!” Chanyeol laughed. “Let her in immediately then.”

Irene smiled. “Alright, doc.” 

Chanyeol was still smiling as he discarded the used tissue in the trash bin nearby. Then a woman in his sixties came in with a bright smile on her face.

“Aigoo, how’s my son-in-law doing?” She greeted him. 

Chanyeol only laughed again in response. Actually, Do Sungmi wasn’t really his mother-in-law, he just humored his patient sometimes, since Sungmi was so hell-bent on marrying off his son.

Sungmi sat down and stared at Chanyeol for a moment. “You look tired. Are you getting enough rest, son?”

Chanyeol softened. “Well, when you’re in this profession, sometimes, it’s hard to get rest.”

Sungmi frowned. “Aigoo, as much as you take care of others, take care of yourself too.”

Chanyeol really liked Sungmi. She reminded him of his mom whom he missed too. It had been a while since he talked to his mom, with his hectic schedule. He should give his mom a call later.

“Yes, mother-in-law.” Chanyeol smiled. 

Sungmi smiled, satisfied. 

“Anyway, let’s see your ECG if your heart has any improvements….” Chanyeol focused on his monitor screen. He searched for Sungmi’s latest test result. Sungmi had been having a follow-up check-up recently. He frowned at ECG, tracing what was displayed on the screen.

“Mother-in-law,” He chided as he looked at Sungmi. “Have you been taking your medicines regularly?”

“Of course!” She answered. “I’ve been taking it without fail!”

Chanyeol turned his monitor screen so Sungmi could see it. “See those lines there. The way the lines moved up and down and then a complete flat line and how frequent those flat lines are recurring?”

Sungmi nodded.

“That’s the beat of your heart. The flat line indicates how your heart stops beating sometimes and beats back again. The fact that your heart has been having irregular beating is not good. Do you want to worsen your condition?”

Sungmi worried her bottom lip. “Is my heart condition really that bad?”

Chanyeol sighed. “I’m not telling you that to scare you. Are you still getting stressed lately?”

“It’s just my son-”

“What did he do this time?” Chanyeol sighed. Right, Do Seungsoo. She had talked about him plenty of times in the past.

“He rejected the blind date I set up for him again! Then there’s his job that worries me constantly. I can’t help it. You know that he’s not living with us, right? I’m his mother and it’s my job to worry about him all the time.”

“But it’s not doing good to your heart, mother-in-law…”

“What do I do? It’s frustrating that he keeps rejecting the people I’ve been setting up with him. If you just agreed to meet up with my son a long time ago...”

“Now, hang on a second-”

“Why won’t you give my son a chance?” Sungmi continued. “I swear to you that my son is good and handsome! And it’s not like you have a partner either-”

That was a slip of tongue. Chanyeol shouldn’t have told her that his love life was covered in dust.

“-I would probably only be at peace when my son has finally found someone who can be by his side. My son has been really lonely, you see. And I just want someone to take care of him even after I’m no longer here-”

“Mother-in-law, you’re thinking way ahead-”

“I don’t think you’ve seen the picture of my son, do you want me to show it to you.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary-”

“Why?”

Because he already had someone he liked. And telling her that might probably upset her even more.

“Hang on, let me get the picture of my son.” Sungmi opened her handbag.

“We’re supposed to discuss your condition first-” Chanyeol tried to say.

Suddenly, the door burst open and the two jumped up in surprise.

And Chanyeol’s heart probably stopped beating too. Because standing by the door was none other than Do Kyungsoo. He was wearing civilian clothes instead of a police uniform. He looked really good in golden brown long sleeves, black fitted jeans ripped on the knee, and white converse. He also had black eyeglasses on. 

“Mom!” Kyungsoo turned to Sungmi with a glare.

“Mom?” Chanyeol choked.

“S-son,” Sugmi said weakly. “How did you know-”

Kyungsoo stormed inside. He looked angry. “Why would you hide something like this from me? If hyung hadn’t slipped up about your check-up here I wouldn’t know about your condition!”

“You’ve got another son aside from Do Seungsoo?” Chanyeol chimed in.

Sungmi looked at him. “Didn’t I tell you? This is the son I’ve been talking about that keeps on rejecting the blind dates.”

“I thought it’s Do Seungsoo?”

“It’s not! I’ve been talking about Kyungsoo!” Sungmi answered. “All this time you thought I was talking about Seungsoo?”

Chanyeol nodded. He said weakly. “I must have mixed up your sons’ names…”

“Look here!” Kyungsoo suddenly said, clapping his hands together to get their attention. “That’s not the important thing right now!” He turned to Chanyeol. “Chanyeol, is my mom okay?”

“Chanyeol?” Sungmi blinked back and forth between the two. “You know each other?”

They both nodded.

“This is good news then!” Sungmi said as she clasped her hands together in delight.

Chanyeol tapped his knuckles on the table. “How about we talk about your condition first, mother-in-law-- I mean ma’am. Kyungsoo, sit down.”

“Eyy,” Sungmi waved her hand. “Why would you call me like that? I like mother-in-law better…”

He couldn’t just call her like that when Kyungsoo was around, he might be uncomfortable with it. Chanyeol cleared his throat, ignoring Sungmi’s antics as well as Kyungsoo’s confused gaze. “Anyway, as I was saying about your heart earlier…”

  
  
  
After Kyungsoo and his mom left and Chanyeol had finished up his clinic duties, he went straight to the OR, where he would spend the rest of his day, probably.

By the time, he got done with his OR duties, it was already noon and he was hungry. He hadn’t been able to eat lunch yet since he was in the middle of complicated surgery. Though, thankfully the surgery had been successful.

On his way to his office where he planned to have some takeout, Chanyeol was stopped dead in his tracks: Sitting on a bench ahead was Do Kyungsoo. Dressed in the same civilian clothes, his gaze was turned towards the floor. When he looked up, their eyes met. Kyungsoo immediately stood up as Chanyeol went to him.

“What are you doing here?” the doctor asked.

Kyungsoo scratched his neck as he replied. "Ah, I asked Jongin in the ER about where you were. He said that you were in the operating room, so I waited here….”

“But why are you here? You’re not yet on duty so you wouldn't have brought any patients with you… Is everything okay?” There was concern in Chanyeol's voice.

The officer smiled a bit. “Actually, are you busy today?”

“Why?”

“If you’re free, I’d like to treat you outside…”

Chanyeol immediately did a mental inventory of his schedule. “I’m free until six since I’ll be in the ER in the evening.”

“Great. I’ll be on duty by then, too. Do you want to eat outside?”

“Let’s eat outside.” Chanyeol decided. “Let me change my clothes first.”

Okay, the reason why Kyungsoo had asked to eat with him was that he was worried about his mom’s condition, not that Chanyeol was hoping that the reason behind it had been because Kyungsoo was just interested in spending time with him. Either way, Chanyeol didn’t mind. If anything else, he wanted to ease Kyungsoo’s distress about his mom.

“Your mom isn’t in a life-threatening situation,” Chanyeol was scooping budae jjigae from the pot to a small bowl. He gave the bowl to Kyungsoo. They had ended up at a noodle restaurant near the hospital.

The doctor leaned his elbow on the table. “As long as we treat it right. Your mom isn’t getting any younger either. So we need to take extra precautions about it. But so far, everything is manageable with medication. Let’s just not stress mother-in-law-- I mean, your mom, that much. Sorry, force of habit. I’ve been humoring her recently.”

That made Kyungsoo smile a bit. Honestly, Chanyeol was glad. Kyungsoo had looked quite distraught earlier.

“So, what I’m saying is, she’s gonna be okay. She’s been having her follow-up checkups with me so I’m continuously monitoring her status. And if she feels anything weird or any discomfort, it’s best to bring her to the hospital immediately.”

“Is it my fault?” Kyungsoo asked softly. “I’ve been a burden to my mom for a long time. You see, she’s a single mother that raised us with all she’s got. And I’ve been causing her too much worry and I’ve been failing her-”

“Hey-” Chanyeol’s hand shot up to reach Kyungsoo’s hand that was also on the table. “Don’t blame yourself about it-”

“But it’s true.” Kyungsoo insisted in a soft and wrecked voice that Chanyeol had an urge to stand up and hug the shorter man. “I’ve wasted all her hard work when I failed the bar exam thrice. Then when I felt like that being a police officer is something that I can do and something that would make me feel like I’m still worthy, it still makes my mom have a hard time in the end. I just… don’t know what else to do without feeling like I’ve been burdening the people around me….”

That’s it. Chanyeol stood up and rounded the table. He sat down next to Kyungsoo and put his arm around his shoulder. Almost instinctively, Kyungsoo leaned towards Chanyeol, his cheek pressed to the taller's shoulder.

“You’re not a burden, Kyungsoo-yah.” Chanyeol was rubbing his back comfortingly. “I’m sure your mom never thought of you as a burden. From what she has told me, all she wanted was for you to be happy. She’s always telling me about how good you are, and how handsome you are-”

“Let’s just stop right there.” Kyungsoo cut him off.

“Okay.”

Kyungsoo pulled away. He sniffed. His face was flushed and he was looking down. “I’m sorry for springing this on you all of a sudden. I feel embarrassed…”

“Don’t be. I’m glad I could be of help to you.”

“It’s just that… when I found out about mom’s condition, I felt like everything just came crashing down on me… and the fact that they hid it from me… I felt even more useless.”

“They just don’t want to worry you. But now that you already know, just be there for your mom. Besides, letting it all out is actually a good thing.” Chanyeol suddenly pointed at Kyungsoo’s chest. “There’s a part in your heart called aorta that degenerates over time due to frequent intense stress. When that happens, it will put pressure on your aortic wall and that wall might rupture in the end. You're actually helping your heart a lot by letting out all your frustrations. Take care of your heart.”

Kyungsoo smiled slightly. “Yes, doc.”

Chanyeol turned his attention to their food. “Our food is now getting cold. Let’s eat.”

But Chanyeol didn’t leave Kyungsoo’s side. Kyungsoo seemed not to mind it either.

“Why did you become a doctor?” Kyungsoo suddenly asked as he sipped on his soup.

Chanyeol picked up a side dish with his chopsticks and chewed on it a little. “I wish I could tell you some dramatic epiphany about why I chose this profession but there’s none..”

Kyungsoo snorted.

“I grew up in a family of doctors. My mom is an Ob-gynecologist. My dad is a general physician. My older sister is a neurosurgeon. So naturally, it felt like my path is also heading there. Though, they didn’t pressure me to be part of the MD clan. But I don’t mind, there’s a thrill in being a doctor. I like it.”

“What made you choose to be a surgeon then?”

“Hmmm…” Chanyeol was looking between the small plates of side dishes and on the pot of budae jjigae, contemplating what to eat next. He settled for another bowl of budae jjigae. “I initially chose to be an Emergency Medicine specialist, because all the chaos is in the ER and I feel like I won’t get bored there. And then, because I got too greedy to experience more thrill and all that shenanigans, I decided to be an army doctor in Syria….”

“Seriously?” Kyungsoo turned his head, staring at him with wide round eyes.

Chanyeol nodded. He suddenly fished out his phone in his jeans pocket, swiping to his camera roll.

He held his phone towards Kyungsoo so he could see the screen. There was a picture of an actual heart inside the open chest cavity.

“Is that a heart?” Kyungsoo looked closely at the picture. “As in the heart inside our body…?”

“Yep.”

“Whose heart is that?”

“Mine.”

Kyungsoo stared back at Chanyeol. He looked stunned. “W-what happened to you?”

“Our medical base in Syria got bombed one time. And I was one of the unfortunate casualties. A shrapnel pierced the right part of my heart. I was lucky to be alive. I gave a lifetime worth of stress to my entire family, they didn’t even want me to go on any overseas trip related to my profession for a while. I guess that's also my cue to lay low on my adventures. Seeing my heart like this-” He looked at his phone screen. Then he pocketed it. “-was the reason I studied again to be a Cardiothoracic surgeon. I also want to fix as many hearts and lungs as I could the way a doctor fixed mine. In short, I fell in love with my own heart, that’s why I became a surgeon.” He grinned at Kyungsoo.

But Kyungsoo only frowned. “But are you okay now?”

“Of course,” The doctor said proudly. “I really had a great doctor that totally fixed me up. He had been my mentor before and I aspired to be like him.”

“Where is he now?”

“Already dead. Because of a heart attack. The irony, isn’t it?” Chanyeol shook his head.

“Ah, I’m sorry to hear that…”

Chanyeol only waved him off.

“Seriously, thank you so much, Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo later said when they had reached the lobby of the hospital. Kyungsoo had insisted on walking him back to the hospital after their meal. And who was Chanyeol to complain if it meant more time with the officer?

“Thank you for taking care of my mother, thank you for….” The officer seemed to hesitate. “Thank you for listening to me…” He scratched his neck.

“No problem. You know how it’s my job to listen to heart problems….” Chanyeol trailed off, also hoping that he didn’t come off as lame with his pun.

But Kyungsoo managed a smile, which didn’t seem forced. “Yeah, it is…” Then he cleared his throat. “I should get going. I still have duty later…”

“Oh sure, see you-” Chanyeol halted. “No, it’s not like I don’t want to see you, but I was hoping that we wouldn’t see each other often with bleeding or dying person tailing with you. It’s nicer to see you in normal circumstances…”

Kyungsoo snorted a smile. “Well, our trip to the noodle house can happen again if you’d like-”

“Of course I do!” 

The officer was still smiling. “Yeah, okay, when we’re both free, we can do that.”

“Should I get your number so we would know when our next free schedule is?” Chanyeol braved the waters.

It was safe to say that the doctor was kissing his phone screen as they parted ways, having secured Kyungsoo’s number.

Chanyeol was humming brightly as he sat behind the counter in the ER nurse station. The ER was relatively quiet. And the patients there had been attended to. So he busied himself with filling up the empty jars with cotton balls.

“Someone’s happy,” Yixing noted as he reached the nurse station with a cup of coffee in one hand.

“Me? Do I look happy?” Chanyeol was grinning.

“Heol…” Yixing said. “Prognosis: you’re starting to lose it. You should be careful.”

“Should I call the Psychiatric Department?” Jongin chimed in from where he was doing an inventory of their medical supplies nearby. “He has been smiling like an idiot since he arrived. I bet it has something to do with Kyungsoo.” He approached them. “Kyungsoo was here earlier asking for his whereabouts.” He pointed his clipboard at Chanyeol.

“Why was he looking for you?” Yixing asked, intrigued.

Chanyeol waved his hand. “It turned out that his mother is my patient. He came just to ask more about her condition since he was worried.”

“Why? What happened to his mother?” Jongin asked, concerned.

“His mother has bradycardia, though she isn’t in immediate danger right now.” Chanyeol put the cover of the jar and set it aside.

Yixing nodded. “That’s a relief to hear then.”

“What about you?” Chanyeol asked Yixing, crossing his arms.

“What about me?” Yixing blinked.

“How is it going with Baek?” The surgeon wiggled his eyebrows.

“I haven’t texted him yet….”

“What?!” Jongin and Chanyeol said simultaneously.

“What species of turtle are you?” Jongin said. “Are you Squirtle? Why are you so slow?”

“Is Baek’s number just a decoration on your phone?” Chanyeol added.

“It’s just Dr. Byun is busy with his lectures nowadays and I don’t want to interrupt him!” Yixing defended.

“Those are just excuses...” Chanyeol muttered. Then he cleared his throat. “If you don’t speed up, Baek might just find someone during his lectures. It’ll be your loss.”

Yixing suddenly looked like a kicked puppy. “Fine. I chickened out every single time, okay? I don’t know what to text him and I don’t know, he would probably ignore it…”

Chanyeol sighed. “A simple Hi would be a good start. And Baek isn’t the type to ignore people without reason. He’s a people person. Just text him.”

Yixing only pouted.

The surgeon turned to Jongin. “Hey, pokemon trainer, teach him how to be a Blastoise.”

“Yah-!” Yixing said.

Their conversation got cut off by the incoming patient in the ER, and the doctors leaped into action. The first thing that registered in his mind when Chanyeol saw the patient on the stretcher being wheeled in was the patient’s police uniform. His heart almost dropped when he thought it was Kyungsoo.

Though, he quickly realized that it was another police officer. 

And Kyungsoo was standing by the stretcher. His police uniform and hands were also covered in blood, already drying.

“Are you okay?” Chanyeol asked Kyungsoo as Dr. Zhang and Jongin attended the patient.

Kyungsoo looked dazed but he managed to nod. “I-It’s not my blood… It’s his…” He could barely glance at the unconscious police officer before glancing down. He looked shaken.

“Do you know him?” Chanyeol asked.

“H-he is my friend..” Kyungsoo whispered.

Before Chanyeol could answer back he was called by Yixing.

“Just sit in the waiting area and have some water,” Chanyeol said to Kyungsoo before he went to the patient. A nurse guided Kyungsoo out of the ER.

“Stab wound in the right midclavicular line,” Dr. Zhang said as Chanyeol wore latex gloves. They had already torn the police uniform, exposing the open wound in the chest. “The wound is quite deep and there’s a possibility of hemopneumothorax.”

Chanyeol walked closer to the patient and examined the wound. “Let’s do the sonogram first.”

A nurse wheeled the sonogram machine. He gave the transducer laced with gel to Chanyeol. Chanyeol pressed the transducer to the patient’s side as he looked at the screen. He pressed the transducer on the other side. “Yep. looks like a hemopneumothorax.”

“Saturation is at 85 percent,” Jongin warned them as he monitored the vitals of the patient.

“I’ll do the intubation,” Yixing said. "Let’s hook him up to a ventilator.”

“Let’s do the blood drainage first before moving him to the OR. Also, I need a CT scan of the lung. Thank you.” Chanyeol said. He started to incise the patient’s skin on his side. “Pass me the trocar.” A nurse gave him a long tube. Chanyeol inserted the tube into the open cut and let the blood flow through the tube into the collection chamber. 

Then the patient was wheeled to the OR. There was a puncture in the right lung, so Chanyeol had to patch that up.

So far there hadn’t been any complication with the officer’s surgery. Later on, Chanyeol learned that the officer's name was Kim Minseok.

The surgeon wasn’t surprised anymore to see Kyungsoo sitting in the waiting area of the OR. After all, the patient was his friend. He was still staring into space, uniform all bloodied, when Chanyeol found him. 

“Hey…” Chanyeol approached Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo immediately stood up. “H-how’s Minseok hyung? Is he okay now?”

“I managed to stitch up the tear in his right lung. No other organs had been harmed, thankfully. His vitals were stable when he was wheeled to the recovery room. He’s in a medically induced coma so he can heal faster and won’t feel a lot of pain. We’ll wake him up in a day. There’s still a risk of sepsis or infection, but so far your friend is doing better,” Chanyeol told him.

That’s when Kyungsoo’s knees gave out.

“Hey!”

Thankfully, Chanyeol managed to catch him, with his arms around his waist.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Chanyeol asked hastily. 

Kyungsoo leaned heavily into him as he wrapped both of his arms tightly around Chanyeol’s torso.

“I was so scared.” Kyungsoo’s shoulders shook. “I-I thought I was going to lose him. I thought.. I thought…” He buried his face on Chanyeol’s chest. He continued to sob, soaking Chanyeol’s scrub shirt with his tears. But it was not like Chanyeol minded one bit.

The doctor didn’t speak. He just let him cry as he rubbed Kyungsoo’s back comfortingly.

Back at his office, Chanyeol prepared two mugs of hot cocoa. He turned around with the mugs just as Kyungsoo was coming out from the bathroom. The officer was holding a face towel. Chanyeol had let Kyungsoo clean up in his office to remove the dried blood on him. He was wearing Chanyeol’s black shirt that was too big on him.

Chanyeol had to look away or else he wouldn’t be able to stop staring at Kyungsoo. He cleared his throat and went to the coffee table.

He put down the mugs on the table with a clink. “Come here and drink this.” He sat down on the couch.

Kyungsoo obliged quietly. He sat adjacent to Chanyeol after hanging up the towel on the headrest to dry.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo murmured, blowing on his cocoa drink.

“You’ve had a long day, you can rest on the couch,” Chanyeol asked, sipping on his beverage. “Don’t tell me you still have to go to work?”

Kyungsoo sighed tiredly, putting down his mug. “I’ve been relieved for today, after the raid…”

“Good. Your friend, Minseok-sshi, does he have family? Do they know what happened to him?”

“All I know is he has a boyfriend but I just don’t know who. As for his parents, they live in Busan. We had a pact to never call our parents if something happened to us during our line of work-”

“What bullshit is that?” Chanyeol interrupted.

“That’s why I broke it and called his parents earlier. They’re coming first thing in the morning.”

Chanyeol nodded, satisfied. He sipped some more. 

“But I still feel like, if something happens to me, I still don’t want my mom to know-”

“What bullshit is that again?” Chanyeol asked, irritated.

“You, of all people, are aware of my mom’s condition. I feel like I died and got resurrected back in the last four hours earlier. I just can’t imagine it for my mom when she’s got a weak heart.” Kyungsoo swallowed. “The line of work that we have-”

“How about quitting your job?” Chanyeol asked. “Now, I truly understand the worry that your mom is going through because of your work.”

Kyungsoo had the gall to smile. “I told you my job is the only thing that’s making me feel worthy right now. It’s giving me a purpose to wake up every morning.”

“How about retaking your bar exam?” Chanyeol suggested again. “It’s never too late for that.”

“I’ve thought about it in the last couple of years, I still haven’t made up my mind about it.”

“What if this is your calling to retake it?”

Kyungsoo snorted. “I don’t want to be a coward just because my friend got almost whisked away by death. I had known the consequences before I signed up for it. Besides, I have to hunt down that bastard who stabbed my friend.”

“Kyungsoo!”

“What? It’s my job. That bastard has been on our wanted list for a long time. We feel like we’re so close to catching him…”

Chanyeol was suddenly seething. He didn’t like the way he felt at that moment, the way Kyungsoo could affect him this much. The way that the anxiety was crawling in his veins and just rotting there at the thought that Kyungsoo might be the next one he would see on the ER bed...

He suddenly stood up. It startled Kyungsoo a bit. “I-I just remembered that I have to go back to the ER.”

Kyungsoo stood up too, “Oh sure, I just-”

“Stay here. Sleep on the couch if you want. You need to rest.” Chanyeol said, before putting the mug in the sink and leaving the office.

He needed to breathe. His thoughts were suffocating.

  
  
  
During the course of the week, Kim Minseok had woken up and Chanyeol had been delighted with the improvement in his condition. He was currently in the patient’s room, checking his stitches.

He was satisfied that it was healing nicely. Minseok’s bed was reclined so he was almost sitting up. There was an oxygen cannula up his nose.

After checking the officer's breathing with his stethoscope, Chanyeol said, "You're still catching your breath, I see."

“But that’s normal--," he glanced at the officer’s parents who were standing on the other side of the bed. “--Since your lung is still healing. But the fact that the color on your skin is returning, it’s a good sign. We’ll continue to do a series of ABG on you to monitor how your lung is functioning. We're also going to continue your painkillers. If you can, I advise you to do breathing exercises. It will help your lungs. You may also have a soft diet for now.” The nurse beside Chanyeol was taking down notes.

“Thank you, doc.” Minseok smiled. His parents said the same thing.

“Well, I think that’s all-”

The door suddenly opened.

Chanyeol turned. Kyungsoo stepped in holding a box wrapped in cloth. He was in civilian clothes today. After the night Kyungsoo had spent in his office, this was the first time that they were seeing each other again. When Chanyeol had returned to his office after his shift that day, Kyungsoo was gone. And the officer hadn’t brought any casualties for a while. Though it had been normal, since it wasn’t like Kyungsoo was at the ER every single night, hauling in casualties.

The doctor quickly turned in the direction of Minseok and his parents. “I should get going…”

They thanked him again before he walked to the door. He gave Kyungsoo a brief smile before exiting. 

Chanyeol headed to the nurse station to write down some additional orders on Minseok’s chart. He had just finished writing when someone cleared his throat behind him. 

Kyungsoo was standing there, wringing his hands and looking uncertain. “Uhm, can we talk? Are you busy?”

“Sure. My rounds are done anyway.”

They ended up in the hospital garden.

"Are you mad at me?" Kyungsoo asked first thing.

"No? Why would I be mad at you?"

"But why do I feel like you're mad at me for something I don't know? You don't smile at me, like the way that makes all your teeth show. Also, I feel like you're avoiding me."

Chanyeol sighed. "You feel a lot of things. Besides, you haven't been in the ER lately."

"I am busy. I got pulled out from road patrol and we're working on a case…"

"The case where Kim Minseok's attacker is involved?" Chanyeol's voice was tight.

"Yeah…"

Chanyeol exhaled. "Well, I am kind of busy too…"

"Why haven't you texted me at least once? You've got my number-”

“Why haven’t you? You’ve got mine too.” The doctor shot back.

“If you’re not mad at me, why do you sound angry just now?”

“I am not…” Chanyeol ran his fingers through his hair as he replied with another exhale. 

“Yeah, keep telling that to yourself.” Kyungsoo turned, about to walk away.

“I am frustrated.” Chanyeol suddenly said.

Kyungsoo glanced back at him.

“I am frustrated that I worry too much about you…”

“Because in the end, there’s nothing I can do about it. I just can’t kidnap you to prevent you from doing whatever it is you’re doing. The worst thing is, I feel frustrated because I feel like I have no right to feel this way, to feel this much, because who am I, right? I’m just your buddy you hung out with once...”

Kyungsoo was now fully facing him. He stared at the taller for a moment before speaking up and looking away. “W-well, I’m glad that you care about me, I guess… We can hang out again next time if you want. This time I’m asking a friend, not a doctor…”

Chanyeol crossed his arms. “When and where are you going to take me?”

“It’s my day off on Friday and there’s a galbi place in Myeongdong that I want to try-”

“Call.”

Kyungsoo was smiling and Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile back.

  
  
  
  
If Chanyeol’s memory served him right, the last time that he had looked forward to something so much was when he had been waiting for the result of his board exam to be a certified surgeon. He was standing in front of a full-body length mirror, adjusting and readjusting his hair, the sleeves of his black coat which he wore over a black button-down shirt, anything that would keep his hands occupied. He was nervous and excited at the same time. 

He looked at his Rolex wristwatch. It was about time. Chanyeol had insisted on picking up Kyungsoo from his apartment. He was still in his office in the hospital and his duty for the day had been finished. He was about to pick up his satchel bag from the table when there was a knock on the door.

An intern doctor stepped in. “Doc, Choi Yeonghee’s family is finally ready for the transplant....”

Chanyeol stopped in his tracks.

_Oh…_

  
  
  
The doctor was back in his scrub shirt as he dialed Kyungsoo’s number, who answered on the first ring.

“Kyungsoo, I’m sorry,” Chanyeol exhaled.

“Oh, why?” Kyungsoo asked on the other line.

The doctor bit his lip, feeling bad already. “I think we have to postpone our plans for tonight. I have to do an emergency procedure today. I’ll probably be in the OR the whole night…”

“Oh, is that so? It’s okay. The patient’s life is more important. We can have plenty of dates in the future but a person has only one life.”

Chanyeol almost choked on his own saliva. Several thoughts ran through his head at once. Such as Kyungsoo referring to their dinner out as a date and how they would probably have more in the future, or the fact that Kyungsoo could be this understanding and open-minded.

“Just focus on saving the patient’s life, okay?”

Chanyeol’s heart constricted. It was making him crazy, how he felt like he was falling harder and faster. It was such an exhilarating feeling that it took his breath away. At the same time, it made him feel more kinetic and vibrant as if his whole body was thrumming with so much energy, and he could just explode like a supernova. In the midst of exhaustion and dropping dead on the spot due to the nature of his work, Kyungsoo was making him more alive.

The doctor smiled. “I will.”

They bid their farewell and hung up.

  
  
  
Choi Yeonghee was in her late twenties and had been declared brain-dead after suffering a head trauma because of a car accident. The only thing that was keeping her alive was the machine she was hooked on to. The family had decided to give them time to be with her, to say their final farewell to her. Now, they had finally decided to let her go.

Choi Yeonghee would leave her parents and her fiance behind. She had been supposed to get married in a month. Chanyeol met her relatives in an empty hallway to talk. As expected, the doctor found them crying already.

He approached them and bowed.

“I know it’s going to be really difficult for you, but someone will be given a chance to live again because of her, because of her heart. Yeonghee-sshi had lived a meaningful life.”

When Chanyeol was finally in the OR and when he successfully harvested Yeonghee’s heart to be donated to someone, he announced her death.

He glanced up at the digital clock above the OR door. “Time of death 8:33 P.M, July 18th.”

The loud beeping of the heart monitor echoed in the room and pierced through the somber silence.

 _You did great until the end, Choi Yeonghee._ Chanyeol bowed at her in respect. Then he moved to the next room where the recipient of the heart was waiting, waiting for a new life.

It was past midnight when Chanyeol came out from the operating room. He immediately checked his phone. There was a message from Kyungsoo.

_Text me when you’re done :)_

He paused, conflicted. Should he still text him this late? Kyungsoo must be sleeping already. He had received the text at 10 p.m. earlier.

Then his phone vibrated again, another message from Kyungsoo came in.

_I parked here in the hospital and I’m waiting in my car…._

_I’m just letting you know tho! I’ll be patiently waiting here, don’t mind me. Just finish your surgery successfully._

Chanyeol was stunned. He dialed Kyungsoo’s number, as he half-ran through the corridor. Kyungsoo immediately answered.

“Hello-”

“What on earth are you doing here this late? Have you been waiting long? When did you get here?” Chanyeol bombarded. He reached the elevator and pushed the button up twice as if it would make the elevator reach his floor faster. He was tempted to use the emergency staircase.

Kyungsoo chuckled. “Are you done with your surgery-?”

“Yes, I’m coming there-!”

“Wait-!”

“What?”

“Go to the garden instead. I’ll meet you there!”

“W-what?”

“Just go to the garden. The sky is clear and I saw a lot of stars on my way here. I thought it’s nice to eat outside..”

“E-eat, what?”

“Aish! Why do you have so many questions? Let’s just meet there. I’m going to hang up. Bye.”

The elevator dinged open. Chanyeol stepped in, feeling so confused. He pressed the ground floor button instead.

When he reached the garden, he looked around. The area was empty, though there was enough light to easily see the person he was looking for.

“Chanyeol! Over here!”

Chanyeol's head whipped in the direction of the voice. In the distance, Kyungsoo was waving at him. The doctor ran to him. They met by the wooden circular seat with a roof above. He noticed that Kyungsoo was holding two black lunch bags and he looked handsome in a white shirt and denim jacket.

“W-why are you here? It’s just that it’s really late-”

“I couldn’t sleep.” Kyungsoo sat down and put down his things. “My body clock is so messed up since I’ve been on night duty. So I figured that since we couldn’t make it to the galbi place, I’d just bring it to us.” He started to open the lunch bags and pulled out the Tupperware boxes one by one. "I grilled a few beef ribs. You haven’t eaten, have you? Since I feel like your surgery was so sudden, you don’t have time to eat properly. I also cooked kimchi stew and some egg rolls, and brought some side dishes.” He opened the lids of the boxes one by one. As the aroma of the food started to waft in the air, it made Chanyeol salivate and made his stomach growl. 

It was true though. Chanyeol had only eaten some crackers before going into the OR and he was starving.

“But the food is already warm since I’ve been waiting for quite a while and I was not exactly sure when you would be done. Also, don’t expect too much from my cooking, okay?” Finally, Kyungsoo gazed up at him.

And Chanyeol was just standing there dumbly, hands clenched into fists and so, so overwhelmed with the things that Kyungsoo had done for him.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo asked. “Don’t just stand there.”

Chanyeol cleared his throat and obliged. He sat across Kyungsoo. “Y-yeah, thank you.”

Kyungsoo only grinned at him in response and gave him a set of chopsticks.

And the doctor was still in a dazed state, his mind trying to comprehend how Kyungsoo made so much food that he couldn’t decide what to pick first, or how Kyungsoo had waited for him despite how late it was. He was about to pick the egg roll since that was the closest to him when Kyungsoo leaned forward and held his wrist, stopping him.

Chanyeol looked up at him.

“Are you sure you're okay? Is there something wrong? Please tell me if I did something wrong-”

“I like you.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened. He visibly froze, his hand tightening on Chanyeol’s wrist.

“A lot…”

“I wasn’t planning on telling you now, considering how I bailed on you earlier. I still feel kinda upset about it because it was supposed to be our first date. But then, it was my duty. I was planning to confess to you when I finally made it up to you, something like bringing you to a fancy restaurant or after we had three or more dates. But I feel like you have to know now.”

Kyungsoo released his wrist and leaned back. “Do I have to answer you now?”

“Do I have a chance with you though?”

“You’re not that bad-” Kyungsoo scratched his neck. 

“That’s all I need to know for now,” Chanyeol cut him off. “because I feel like I still have to prove myself, that I’m worthy to be with you. I’m still feeling sorry about what happened earlier. I’m sorry.” He bowed. “I’m not going to promise that it’s not going to happen again but every time it does, I’m going to make it up to you next time…”

Kyungsoo nodded. “Okay.” He crossed his arms.

“Since when did you like me?”

“Before I answer that, can we eat first? I’m really starving and I might pass out any second now..”

“Oh! Sure, help yourself.”

Chanyeol went straight for the grilled beef ribs. He almost moaned at how good and tender it was. “Are you sure you didn’t buy this? This is like a Michelin star kind of food.” He continued to wolf down his food.

Kyungsoo laughed. “Thank you, and yes, I cooked that.”

“It’s so good.” Chanyeol groaned, chewing. “And you’re being humble. How about a restaurant? Don’t you want to build one? Gordon Ramsey is probably going to be your fan when he tastes this.”

The officer continued to laugh. “You’re exaggerating. You’re just hungry!”

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Chanyeol asked.

Kyungsoo picked up his chopsticks.

“I started to like you the first time we met.” Chanyeol narrated as he devoured some egg rolls and kimchi. 

Kyungsoo put down his chopsticks. “Are you really like this?”

“Huh?” Chanyeol looked up from him.

“Springing up things like this all of a sudden?”

“Because you asked me earlier when I started liking you? I was just answering you?”

“You’re so casual about this? You talk like you’ve said this kind of thing to a lot of people.”

Chanyeol swallowed. “I never dated anyone for the past four years. You know my work, it’s hard to date.”

“What made you change your mind then?”

“When I saw you. I said to myself that wow, it would be nice if he becomes my boyfriend someday…”

“Are you really this straightforward?”

“I almost died once. When my life was flashing before my eyes, I regretted not saying the things that I want to say to the people I cared about. That’s why when I woke up again after a shrapnel almost shredded my heart, I tried to express the things I want to express as much as I can. Because I was afraid that I won’t be able to have that opportunity again.”

Kyungsoo only stared at him.

“Are you blushing? You look like you are.”

“Shut up. That’s just the lamp post. Let’s just eat.”

“Yeah.”

  
  
  
So it went something like this.

Since morning was the only time they were mostly free, Chanyeol would pick up Kyungsoo from the police station after the officer’s shift. The first time it happened, Kyungsoo was beyond surprised. Chanyeol had pulled over in front of the station just in time as Kyungsoo was coming out from the entrance. Chanyeol could vaguely remember the hollers from Kyungsoo’s fellow police officers when they had seen the latter holding a bouquet of marigold flowers and baby’s breath. The bouquet had been wrapped in black paper that brought out the yellow and white colors of the blooms even more. 

Chanyeol could clearly remember the blush that had crept on Kyungsoo’s face as he smelled the flowers. There had been a smile on his face.

Breakfast in cafes had become their thing. There were calls and texts but it was still different to see the twinkle in Kyungsoo’s eyes in person, the flustered look on his face when he was embarrassed. Chanyeol liked to tease him often because of that. Though, he would also earn a light punch in the ribs for it when he was within Kyungsoo’s reach.

They were both standing on the sidewalk, waiting for a taxi that would take Kyungsoo home. They had just finished another breakfast date. Chanyeol had insisted to drive Kyungsoo back to his apartment but the officer had insisted that he could go home alone since Chanyeol had to go to work. The latter had reluctantly agreed.

As they stood there, Chanyeol noticed how worn out Kyungsoo looked. Very prominent bags under his eyes, the way he was hunched over as if he was going to pass out any time soon, and the way that he looked smaller as if he had lost some weight.

“Are you okay?” Chanyeol asked him.

Kyungsoo looked at him confusedly. “Yes, I am, why?”

“You look more tired than usual…”

Kyungsoo sighed wearily. “The case is taking a toll on all of us, I guess. We are all frustrated about how we feel like we’re so close but it isn’t actually.”

Ah, The Case that was giving Chanyeol indigestion every time he would think Kyungsoo was out there in the field and Danger was creeping up behind the officer's back, ready to grab him anytime.

Chanyeol found himself raising his hand and cradling the side of Kyungsoo’s face. Kyungsoo almost flinched in surprise. Though, he didn’t move away when Chanyeol started to caress his cheekbone.

“Take care of yourself, and don’t get hurt…” Chanyeol murmured.

Kyungsoo only stared at him with big round eyes. Then he cleared his throat and looked away. “Oh, there’s a taxi coming…”

Chanyeol watched the taxi with Kyungsoo in it disappear in the distance before walking back to where his car parked.

And of course, Kyungsoo did get hurt.

  
  
  
  


Dr. Zhang pushed the curtain aside and found Chanyeol examining a patient who was lying in bed complaining about pain in his abdomen. The latter looked up at Dr. Zhang who had a serious expression. Chanyeol raised an eyebrow at him.

“Let’s switch up. You must see the patient that was brought in.”

“Why? Who was it?”

“Kyungsoo.”

Chanyeol was moving even before his mind could tell him so.

“He’s in bed four,” Yixing called out.

Chanyeol strode towards bed four and harshly pulled aside the curtain that was covering the bed. Kyungsoo was conscious and sitting on the bed. Jongin was already at his side. His police uniform had been torn and the nurse was putting pressure on his shoulder, where Chanyeol could see drying blood. 

“Please don’t freak out. I’m okay.” That was the first thing that Kyungsoo said when he saw Chanyeol. The officer winced slightly.

Chanyeol inhaled and pressed his lips together into a thin line. “You are not the doctor here. I am going to be the one who’s going to decide if you’re okay or not.”

“What happened?” Chanyeol said quietly as he pulled on a pair of gloves.

“Bullet graze,” Jongin said. “It might need some stitches.”

So that was what Chanyeol did after examining the wound on Kyungsoo’s left shoulder. He remained quiet as he stitched the wound close. Jongin had left them to attend other patients so it was only the two of them in there.

Kyungsoo was stubborn, so naturally, he would do something opposite to what Chanyeol had said, like getting hurt. It frustrated the doctor immensely, especially when Kyungsoo’s wellbeing was involved. The frustration of being unable to do anything to keep Kyungsoo away from harm because getting hurt was also part of his job description. Talk about occupational hazards.

“Please say something…” Kyungsoo said quietly. “I’m not used to you being quiet. I don’t like it. If you’re mad at me, just tell me.”

“How did you end up like this?” Chanyeol asked. His wrists flicked as he twisted and tied the thread.

“It’s the case….” Kyungsoo answered.

Chanyeol tensed, pausing on his work.

“It’s over though!” Kyungsoo tried to pacify the taller, almost twisting in his position to glance back at Chanyeol but the doctor held him in place.

“Don’t move.” He said.

Kyungsoo obliged. “What I’m saying is, you don’t have to worry anymore. The case is over. The culprit has been apprehended.”

Chanyeol didn’t say anything as he finished suturing Kyungsoo’s wound and cutting the thread. He covered it with a gauze pad afterward and discarded his gloves in the nearby trash bin. When he turned, Kyungsoo was watching him.

The doctor sighed as he sat on the bed, in front of Kyungsoo. “I won’t ever stop worrying about you. It’s in my instinct to look after the wellbeing of people and it’s worse when it's about my family and friends.”

“It hurts me that you’re getting hurt like this.” Chanyeol continued.

“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo said in a small voice, looking down.

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. As much as I hate it, it’s part of your job. I’m still trying to understand the differences in our work. I work diligently to save as many lives as I can. But you working diligently means you can get hurt and people around can get hurt in the process. This job, I know how it means so much to you so I want to be supportive as much as I can…”

Kyungsoo’s face softened. He whispered. “Thank you…”

“But!” Chanyeol raised his index finger. “It still doesn’t mean that you’re going to be always on your blazing glory, getting hurt because you decided to be a self-sacrificial idiot. I don't want to see you often lying on a hospital bed-”

“Fine, I’ll just find another hospital just in case-”

Chanyeol hissed at him. “Do you think I’m joking about this?”

“Sorry,” Kyungsoo said, sheepishly. “But I’ll do my best to take care of myself. I promise.”

“Good.”

Suddenly the curtain was pulled aside making the two jump slightly in surprise. Kyungsoo hissed holding his wounded shoulder. 

Jongin was standing there holding a clipboard. “Dr. Zhang is already thinking that you’re making this area your mating place.”

“Oh my God,” Chanyeol groaned, covering his face with his hand.

But Kyungsoo looked confused. “A-a what?”

Chanyeol waved him off as he stood up. “It’s nothing. Don’t mind him.”

“And also doc,” Jongin said. “Patient Lee’s CBC result is already out.”

“Okay, I’ll check on it.” Chanyeol answered. Then he turned at Kyungsoo. “Just stay here. I’ll get you a change of shirt. You can rest here. I’ll prescribe you some painkillers, and don’t move around too much or you’ll pull your stitches open. Also, I need you to take a week's rest from work-”

“What?” Kyungsoo was flabbergasted. “I can’t do that-!”

“Do you want to hurt your wound? You have to come back here after a week, so I can remove the thread.”

“How about three days?” Kyungsoo bargained.

Chanyeol raised his clenched hands, on the verge of pinching Kyungsoo’s cheeks in annoyance. “Fine. But no strenuous activities! I mean it! Or I’m really going to tie you up here so you won’t be able to go anywhere-”

“Woah, is that your kink?” Jongin chimed in.

The two glared at Jongin. Jongin threw up a peace sign and left the area.

Chanyeol faced the other, eyes almost pleading. “I’m serious, Kyungsoo. You promised me you’re going to take care of yourself.”

Kyungsoo sighed and nodded.

The doctor left the area, satisfied, even if only a little bit.

  
  
  
  


Chanyeol and Kyungsoo didn’t meet again until a few days later. The doctor found him standing by the vending machine, seemingly deep in thought about which drink to purchase. Kyungsoo was in civilian clothes since his shift wasn’t until later.

The doctor approached him. 

“I want a soda,” He said as he stood next to Kyungsoo his hands shoved deep into his white coat's pockets.

Kyungsoo looked startled as he looked up at him. “Oh! Yeah, sure.” He started to insert coins into the slot.

“Did you visit Minseok-sshi? He’s going to be discharged today.” Chanyeol said.

Kyungsoo hummed. “Yeah, I did. I wanted to visit him before he goes home.”

Chanyeol nodded even though Kyungsoo wouldn’t see him since his back was facing him. There was a _clank_ in the vending machine as it released a can. Kyungsoo inserted another batch of coins into the slot.

“How’s your shoulder? Does it still hurt?” Chanyeol asked again.

“A bit? But most of the time it’s just numb and cramps because I refrained from moving it too much. I’ve been taking painkillers to relieve the pain.”

Chanyeol hummed. “Let’s check your wound-”

“PARK CHANYEOL!”

The doctor whirled around in the direction of the voice. In the distance, his best friend, Byun Baekhyun, was striding towards him with a serious look on his face.

Chanyeol’s eyes were wide, remembering how he had given his number to Yixing and never mentioned it to Baekhyun. He had also forgotten about that. “Oh shit, he’s back.”

“Who is he?” Kyungsoo asked curiously, standing beside Chanyeol. “He looks angry.”

Chanyeol looked at Kyungsoo. “Someone who’s going to murder me. Let’s run.” He grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand and dragged him in another direction,

“B-but the soda and my cold coffee-!”

“Forget about that. I’ll just buy you one. My life is more important.”

They ran the other way, and ended up in Chanyeol’s office. He released a big breath after closing the door of the office. 

“Phew,” Chanyeol said. “That was close…”

“Who is he? Why did we run away from him?” Kyungsoo leaned sideways on the door, crossing his arms.

“He’s Byun Baekhyun. My best friend. He’s also a doctor here. But he had been away for a few weeks due to his lecture in Jeju. Obviously, he’s back now. I’ll let you two meet when I think I’m safe to be within his radius.”

“What did you do?”

“I sacrificed him for the greater good of humanity.”

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at him.

“Anyway,” Chanyeol said. “It’s good that we’re also here in my office.”

“Why?”

Chanyeol moved closer to him, almost crowding him. Kyungsoo leaned back on the door, eyes widening.

“So we can have some privacy…” Chanyeol whispered.

“W-what?” It seemed that if Kyungsoo could step back, he probably would by the way he was leaning even further into the door.

“I mean you and I…” Chanyeol trailed off. “We need some privacy, right?”

“W-what do you mean?”

Chanyeol put his hand next to Kyungsoo’s head as he continued to lean forward. His lips inched closer to Kyungsoo’s. The officer looked frozen.

And then Chanyeol moved his head, breathing on Kyungsoo's ears instead. He whispered again. "I mean, I have to check your wound, right? We need some privacy for that."

"Seriously, you-!"

Chanyeol received a light punch in the ribs that made him hunch over and lean heavily into Kyungsoo. He was laughing. He had expected that jab anyway.

"Get off me!"

Chanyeol wouldn't stop laughing and didn't budge from his place. Kyungsoo was just too cute when he was being teased. 

There was another pinch in his stomach.

Chanyeol jerked. "Fine! Fine! I'm moving."

The doctor stepped back, walking towards his desk. "Were you expecting something else?" He shrugged off his white coat when he reached his desk.

"Shut up. I should have just let your best friend murder you." Kyungsoo walked to the couch.

"Oho! You evil man, here I was thinking you're my knight in shining armor." Chanyeol hung up his white coat on the rack stand near his table.

Kyungsoo didn't speak so Chanyeol continued. "Anyway, take off your clothes." He turned just in time to see Kyungsoo freeze.

"Huh?" Kyungsoo's eyes were impossibly wide.

"Huh?" Chanyeol blinked back at him.

"Uh, I'm going to check your wound," He added. "So take off your clothes…"

"Oh…"

Another beat of silence as they stared at each other. Then it dawned on Chanyeol.

"You-" Chanyeol tried to say. "You were really thinking of something else, weren't you?"

"I'm not!"

Kyungsoo's reaction was what made Chanyeol burst into laughter, doubling over and clutching his stomach.

"I'm serious, it's really not-!" Kyungsoo sputtered, indignant.

Chanyeol wouldn't stop laughing.

"Aish, forget it! I'm leaving-!" Kyungsoo turned around, ready to march his way out of the room.

“Oi!” Chanyeol followed him, holding Kyungsoo’s wrist to stop him. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop…”

Kyungsoo turned back and glared at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol clamped his mouth together to prevent himself from laughing any further. 

The doctor was perched on the armrest of the couch as Kyungsoo sat in front of him, shirtless. 

“It doesn’t hurt that much, right?” Chanyeol asked as he inspected the wound. So far there was no swelling or redness around the edges of the wound. The stitches were still intact. Kyungsoo had come back to work so Chanyeol had been worried about the wound pulling open and getting infected. So far, it seemed like the officer had taken care of his wound really well, which the doctor was glad about.

Kyungsoo shook his head, answering the question.

Chanyeol applied antibiotic cream on his wound with a cotton swab. “Don’t forget to change your bandage every 24 hours or if you think it’s already dirty, to avoid the risk of infection.”

“You’ve told me that already.” Kyungsoo mumbled.

“I’m just reminding you-” He paused. “Hold on, you’re living alone. Who’s cleaning your wound for you?”

“My neighbor.” 

“Y-your neighbor?” Chanyeol sputtered. “Who is that? Are they seeing you like this, naked?”

“Of course, how else is he going to check my wound if I don't take off my clothes?” Kyungsoo turned and narrowed his eyes at him. “Right?”

“H-he?” Chanyeol said. “Wow, you two must be really close to be this comfortable with each other.”

“Of course. We’ve been neighbors for a long time.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol nodded. “I shouldn’t be this worried about you since someone is taking good care of you.”

Kyungsoo couldn’t help but snort a laugh. “God, you’re so ridiculous.”

“I’m not. Like I should be relieved, right? Because your neighbor is such a wonderful person to look after you.”

This time it was Kyungsoo who was trying to stop himself from laughing. “Yeah, he’s such a wonderful person he should be awarded Best Neighbor of the Year. He’s also handsome and cool.”

“Wow, yeah, okay. Do you like him that much? Just go then. Ask him to clean your wound instead.”

Kyungsoo was laughing. “God, Park Chanyeol, why do you look constipated?” He was full-blown laughing now.

“I just ate kimbap for lunch and I think I’m having indigestion just now at the thought of your wonderful, handsome, and cool neighbor.” 

Kyungsoo’s shoulders shook as he laughed harder. He leaned his forehead on Chanyeol’s knees, since Chanyeol’s foot was on the couch too.

“Right. Laugh all you want. You’re getting your revenge, right? When I laughed at you earlier.”

Chanyeol let him laugh for another minute or so. Because it was nice seeing Kyungsoo like this, so carefree; a moment where it seemed like he was free from the shackles of his worries about his work or indecision about his future. His heart felt so full at the sight of that heart-shape smile and those crescent eyes, something that was also ingrained in Chanyeol’s mind.

When Kyungsoo sobered up, he rested his chin on Chanyeol’s knee. His eyes were shining as he looked up at the taller. “I was just joking. I don’t have a guy neighbor. You know I lived at the end of the hallway, right? My next-door neighbor is actually my cousin, Hyesoo. I think she’s also a spy for my mom. She’s the one who’s cleaning my wound. Besides her, all the tenants on my floor are actually married. ”

“Oh…”

“Yup.”

“This is totally a revenge for earlier.” Chanyeol held Kyungsoo’s shoulder to turn him around so he could finish cleaning his wound.

Kyungsoo giggled.

After cleaning the wound, the doctor walked Kyungsoo out of the hospital. 

“Bye.” Chanyeol waved at him when they reached the lobby. “See you at the usual cafe tomorrow morning?”

“Sure,” Kyungsoo said. “See you.”

Kyungsoo was about to walk away when someone blocked his way.

Chanyeol yelped, stepping behind Kyungsoo. As if he could hide his tall frame behind him.

Because standing in front of them was none other than Byun Baekhyun.

“Hi.” Baekhyun smiled at Kyungsoo. “I think you forgot these in the vending machine.” He held up two cans; one was a soda and the other one was a cold coffee. “Since you were busy running away earlier.” Baekhyun tilted his head at the other doctor.

Chanyeol hunched over, looking down. Kyungsoo glanced back at him.

“Which is yours?” Baekhyun asked Kyungsoo again, referring to the cans he was holding.

“The coffee.” 

“There you go." Baekhyun gave him the can. “I guess, this one's for you.” He threw the soda can at Chanyeol, who fumbled to catch it.

“By the way, I’m Byun Baekhyun, former friend of Chanyeol over there-”

“Yah-” Chanyeol tried to say.

“Shut up.” Baekhyun said to him. He smiled at Kyungsoo. “And you are? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

“Do Kyungsoo,” Kyungsoo said. “Friend of Chanyeol…”

“Yeah, I have a new friend.” Chanyeol boasted.

Baekhyun ignored him and was still looking at Kyungsoo. “Oh, are you on your way? I just really came to give your can to you.”

“Yes, I am actually-”

“Kyungsoo-yah, please don’t leave me.” Chanyeol suddenly latched onto his arm. “I’m going to die if you leave me alone.”

“I’m glad you know.” Finally, Baekhyun acknowledged him.

“See!” Chanyeol said. He tightened his grip on Kyungsoo’s arm. “You heard that right, Kyungsoo?”

“Yeah, I heard that.” The officer sharply tugged his arm from Chanyeol’s hold. “And good luck. Stay alive until our breakfast tomorrow.” He bowed to Baekhyun. “Nice meeting you.”

Baekhyun was laughing. “I like you already. Let’s meet again soon, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Kyungsoo-yah, how can you be like this?” Chanyeol pleaded.

“Bye, Chanyeol. See you tomorrow.” Kyungsoo waved at him and started to walk away.

“Kyungsoo-yah, save me, please..”

This time Baekhyun blocked Chanyeol’s way.. “We have a lot of things to talk about.”

“I have an OR schedule right now.” 

“No, you don't have one.” Baekhyun suddenly pulled his ear.

“Yah! Yah!”

“Why on earth is Dr. Zhang suddenly texting me? He told me you’re the one who gave my number to him.”

“Woah, he texted you already? Thank goodness. Yixing is a grown-up now- owww! My ear!” Chanyeol whined even more when Baekhyun twisted his ear harder.

“Yes! Do you know how stressful it was to come up with a reply when you get a sudden text saying: `Have a nice day, this is Zhang Yixing by the way’.”

“Oh my God. That's his first text to you?”

“Yes, do you know how awkward that was even if it’s just a text? I got more stressed replying to his text rather than preparing for my lecture.”

“Will you let go of my ear first? This is harassment already! Do you know Kyungsoo is a police officer? I’m going to report you!”

“I don’t care.”

“I’m going to explain everything if you just let go of my ear!”

So that’s how they ended up back in Chanyeol’s office. Baekhyun was sitting cross-legged adjacent to Chanyeol as he narrated the deal between him and Yixing before he worked at the ER, and how Kyungsoo and he had met.

Baekhyun leaned forward putting his elbow on his knees. “Be thankful I like your friend already or else I would have been really pissed at you.”

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol grumbled. Then he cleared his throat. “But it’s not like I gave your number to some hoodlum or the mafia. And it’s not like you and Yixing are total strangers. Don’t you like him? And lastly, it’s not like you’re dating someone-”

“How did you know I am not?”

“Heol, are you?”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and leaned back on his chair. He put his feet on the coffee table.

“If you’re dating someone or if you don’t like him, please turn him down gently. Don’t lead him on. Yixing deserves better than that.”

Baekhyun sighed, tipping his head back on the headrest of the couch. He closed his eyes. “Do you really think I have time to find people to date? Let's see how far Dr. Zhang will go. It’s cute to see him try hard.”

Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun. A grin spread on his face.

Just like that, a month had passed.

Chanyeol was a bit saddened that his ER duties would be over soon since Dr. Wu and Dr. Kim would be back in a matter of days from now. Even though he was extra tired because of the added load, it was also rewarding. He couldn’t explain it, but ER had a special place in his heart since that was where he had gained experience as a resident before. And the people he had worked with were fun to be with. It wasn’t like he was going to work in another hospital or something, but he was going to see the ER team less like how it had been before. Well, he was probably going to pay them a visit once in a while.

The doctor made his way to the ER to start his night duty. When he reached the area, there weren't many patients and the staff was crowding the nurse station. They were busy laughing over something.

Yixing was the first one to see him. “Oh! There he is.”

As if on cue, the crowd parted. Kim Jongdae was standing in the middle.

Chanyeol’s eyes widened and he smiled brightly. “Chennie! You’re back-”

Jongdae was striding towards him, his face stoic and expressionless.

“W-what? W-what did I do?” Chanyeol almost stepped back because Jongdae looked so serious as if he had committed some crime. “Fine, I’m not going to call you Chennie ever again-!”

Jongdae suddenly hugged him. Chanyeol froze.

“Thank you,” Jongdae said.

“Oh, it’s fine. I really don’t mind working here-”

Jongdae released him. He was smiling at him as he took a step back. “Nope, not that. Thank you for saving my boyfriend.”

Chanyeol blinked. “B-boyfriend, who?”

“Kim Minseok, he’s the police officer who got stabbed. He told me that you’re his doctor.”

Chanyeol gasped. “Seriously?”

Jongdae nodded, still smiling.

Talk about a small world.

And then Yixing approached them, regarding Chanyeol. “Hey, do you mind staying here until the end of the year? Dr. Wu got a problem back at his home and he’ll be gone for quite a while. I know, it’s a bit too much-”

Chanyeol didn’t even hesitate. “Sure.”

Turned out, it wasn’t over just yet.

  
  
  


Mornings were probably Chanyeol’s favorite by now. Because mornings meant that he would be able to see Kyungsoo before he started his day. And no energy drink or caffeine could ever rival that to boost his energy for the whole day.

Scratch that, he still needed to drink his daily dose of iced americano because his stomach couldn’t probably live without it in a day.

“So now that The Case is now closed, you’re back now on road patrol?” Chanyeol sliced his pancake.

They were eating breakfast at this new cafe around their area that Kyungsoo had discovered a while back. Meanwhile, Chanyeol had also discovered how much of a food enthusiast the officer was, and he would never know how Kyungsoo managed to find these hidden gems in the nooks and corners of Seoul. If Kyungsoo suggested a place, Chanyeol would agree without hesitation because his pick never disappoints.

"Yes,” Kyungsoo twirled the pasta with his fork and ate serenely.

Chanyeol nodded. At least, he would be at ease now. That case — whatever it was — had rubbed Chanyeol the wrong way. Maybe because he had seen what it had done to Minseok, and the image of Kyungsoo bleeding had been something that Chanyeol had tried to ward off when his mind was not on his patients.

“Oh, right!” Chanyeol remembered something. “Did you know that Minseok’s boyfriend is actually a fellow doctor at the hospital? Kim Jongdae is also an ER doctor that recently came back from China.”

“Yeah, Minseok hyung told me that and let me see his boyfriend’s picture, finally. Well, I’m not really the type to pry into whatever it is that’s going on with their lives. From what Minseok hyung told me, they were on and off with their relationship and they were not sure if they were going to last, so it took this long for him to finally introduce his boyfriend.”

Chanyeol whistled, leaning back on his chair. “So it sounds like they’re in for the long run now.”

“I hope so.”

There was silence between them as Kyungsoo continued to eat and Chanyeol looked through the window of the cafe, taking in the view of the bustling street.

“Uhm…”

Chanyeol glanced back at Kyungsoo. The officer was staring at him.

“Are you free this weekend?” Kyungsoo asked.

Chanyeol shrugged. “I can make time. Why?”

“I’m going to visit Mom this weekend. I was wondering if you’d like to come with me-”

“Sure.” Chanyeol smiled. “Let’s see mother-in-law.” By this point, Chanyeol was intentionally referring to Kyungsoo’s mom like that. The first few times that Chanyeol had unintentionally slipped up, Kyungsoo had seemed not to mind. So Chanyeol hadn’t stopped calling Mrs. Do like that.

“Why do you keep calling mom like that? Are you going to marry me?” Kyungsoo finally addressed

“Sure.”

“You’re not even my boyfriend yet.”

“Let’s just skip that part and head straight to the marriage part.”

Kyungsoo threw the unused napkin at him. Chanyeol only laughed, catching the napkin.

  
  
  
  


“I have a request before we visit Mom later.”

Chanyeol paused in the middle of removing the suture from Kyungsoo’s skin. They were at his clinic in the morning. He had no outpatient duties that day, and made a short detour to his clinic before driving to Mrs. Do’s home.

“What?” Chanyeol resumed his work.

“Don’t tell mom about this.” 

_This._ The wound on his shoulder. The danger of his work and what it had done to him. Chanyeol knew what Kyungsoo meant. 

He sighed. He still didn’t like it but he could see Kyungsoo’s point. “Fine. I won’t.”

“Thank you.”

Chanyeol finished his work by covering his wound with another fresh gauze pad. “There. It’s all done.”

He discarded some of the used medical supplies and sterilized the tools while Kyungsoo put on his clothes. When they were done, they left the clinic. Chanyeol was the designated driver and they drove away from the city, away from the exhausting demands of that place. Kyungsoo had put his address on the navigation before promptly falling asleep. Chanyeol liked to glance at him once in a while, when they were stuck in traffic or when they were at a red light. 

And he wondered how someone could sleep this prettily.

The way Kyungsoo’s lashes fanned out on his cheeks. God, was his eyelashes really that long? Or the way his plump lips parted slightly as he breathed out. Chanyeol wondered what it was like to touch those lips, to graze those lips with his thumb or just to feel those lips with his own-

Chanyeol decided to concentrate more on the road.

After an hour or so of driving, they reached a rural type of area. Buildings were replaced by greenery. Chanyeol rolled down his window. The fresh air and the smell of earth wafted in his nose. It was refreshing. There was no usual noise of the city’s traffic.

Kyungsoo woke up by then, stretching like a languid cat. Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile as he gave Kyungsoo a side glance. Did he already mention how adorable Kyungsoo was? Probably, a hundred times already but who cares, and who’s counting, right?

“How was the nap?” Chanyeol asked.

“Good.” Kyungsoo rasped. “Oh! We’re nearing already. Turn left.”

Chanyeol obliged.

“Why are you smiling?”

“You’re cute when you sleep.”

He received a punch on the arm.

“Yah!” Chanyeol winced but was laughing.

“Don’t call me cute ever again.” 

“How about adorable?”

Kyungsoo raised his fist.

“Just kidding.”

Then there was a beat of silence as Kyungsoo put down his fist.

“But seriously,” Chanyeol was looking ahead. “You’re handsome when you’re asleep, or even when you’re awake, or just simply sitting there-”

“What’s gotten into you?!” Kyungsoo cut him off.

Chanyeol glanced at him. Kyungsoo was glaring at him, and there was a prominent blush dusting his cheeks.

“Are you drunk? Did you drink something while I was asleep?” Kyungsoo added.

Chanyeol only laughed. “I am completely sober. And I am way worse when drunk. You’ll probably end up red as an apple the entire time I am drunk-talking.”

Kyungsoo hit him again on the arm. Chanyeol just laughed again.

They pulled over in front of a house fenced by a low cemented barrier. There was a gate in the middle, unlocked, and opened. Kyungsoo was the first one to climb out of the car. Meanwhile, Chanyeol only followed suit after killing the engine. He went to the back of his car to grab some things they had bought before they went there. Kyungsoo was passing through the gate and calling his mom.

Chanyeol closed the door of his car, carrying a watermelon in a net in one hand and a paper bag in another. The paper bag contained some ingredients that Kyungsoo had insisted he would cook for their lunch there.

He could hear Mrs. Do’s delightful voice upon seeing his son, and then he also heard Kyungsoo telling her that he brought someone over.

“Who?” Sungmi asked just in time Chanyeol reached the gate.

Chanyeol smiled at Mrs. Do when she looked in his direction.

“Omo!” Sungmi’s eyes were wide that reminded Chanyeol of how Kyungsoo’s eyes widened when surprised. Then she was practically running to Chanyeol.

“Dr. Park!” Sungmi gushed. “It was nice of you to come here!”

“Hello, mother-in-law,” Chanyeol bowed. “Kyungsoo invited me, and please, Chanyeol is fine.”

If Sungmi could melt into a puddle, she would probably have, completely enamored by Chanyeol.

“Why do I feel like my mother is happier to see someone else than her own son?” Kyungsoo crossed his arms.

“Aigoo.” Sungmi waved him off. “This is the first time that Chanyeol came here and I was just happy and surprised. It’s like seeing another son after a long time.”

Kyungsoo only rolled his eyes and snatched the paper bag from Chanyeol’s hold. Sungmi ushered them inside.

“What medicine did you give to my mother?” Kyungsoo muttered to Chanyeol as they walked side by side and Sungmi was leading the way. “Why is she so smitten with you?”

Chanyeol shrugged. “I guess no one can resist my charm, eh?” He winked at Kyungsoo.

Before Kyungsoo could hit him again, he ran off to Sungmi’s side.

“Who would have thought that you two ended up together? I’m so happy.” Sungmi sighed contentedly. They were sitting on the kitchen table side by side, and she had enveloped Chanyeol’s hands with hers despite how big his hands were. Chanyeol had just told her that he had already confessed to Kyungsoo that he liked him.

Chanyeol cleared his throat. “Mother-in-law, we’re not yet together, let’s just say that we’re getting there-”

Sungmi waved him off. “Who cares whether you’re not yet there, or just getting there? In the end, you two will end up together no matter what. I can feel it.”

“What if Kyungsoo rejected me?” Chanyeol asked.

“I am going to disown him.” Sungmi smiled.

Chanyeol’s mouth hung open, and before he could say anything there was a _thud_ on the kitchen counter. Kyungsoo had just put down his knife on the chopping board and turned to them. He wore an apron since he was busy cooking their lunch. The two on the table looked up at Kyungsoo.

“Please don’t talk like I am not here,” Kyungsoo said. Then he looked at his mother. “Seriously, Mom, are you really going to do that-?”

Sungmi nodded pleasantly. “So please make your decisions carefully.”

Kyungsoo was speechless. 

Chanyeol laughed awkwardly, deciding whether to take her seriously or not. “I’m sure mother-in-law doesn’t really mean that-”

Sungmi turned her head at him. “I do though,” Then she looked back at Kyungsoo. “What’s taking you so long to answer him? What are you still waiting for? Are you going to answer him when I’m already on my deathbed-”

“Mom!”

“Mother-in-law!”

Sungmi sighed.

“Because I’ve just met him recently?” Kyungsoo answered her nonetheless. “And I’m taking my time to get to know him more because what if he’s a member of a syndicate or something?”

“I’m sure that I am not.” Chanyeol mumbled

“Do you want to do a background check on him?” Sungmi asked incredulously. “Are you going to interrogate him? He’s literally my doctor.”

“What I mean, mom, I just want to be sure about my decisions.”

Chanyeol decided to butt in, gripping Sungmi’s hands. “We are not in a rush, mother-in-law. And I am willing to wait for him as long as it takes.”

Sungmi looked at him adoringly.

Chanyeol cleared his throat, changing the subject. “Anyway, how are you, mother-in-law? You don’t feel dizzy often? Or experiencing shortness of breath?”

“I’m okay!” Sungmi insisted as Kyungsoo resumed his cooking. “I’ve never felt better since you two visited me now. Besides, Seungsoo is always here looking after me. You don’t have to worry.”

“When will hyung be home?” Kyungsoo asked, busy at the counter.

“He said he will be a bit late,” Sungmi said. “It’s a waste that you didn’t get to meet.”

“I just saw hyung the other day.” Kyungsoo chimed in.

“I’m talking about Chanyeol.”

“Heol,” Kyungsoo said without missing a beat. “I can already feel that I am not part of this family anymore.”

Sungmi and Chanyeol laughed. Then Sungmi leaned forward to Chanyeol and whispered. “Kyungsoo-yah is actually my baby.”

“MOM!”

After Kyungsoo had cooked, they ate their lunch. Kyungsoo never failed to make Chanyeol fall in love with his cooked food. He might have complimented Kyungsoo’s cooking a dozen of times during their meal. There was a faint blush on Kyungsoo’s cheeks. He had learned that Kyungsoo easily got embarrassed with compliments. And Chanyeol had been so smitten by his shy trait that it was like falling in love all over again-

Woah, woah, woah, falling in love?

Chanyeol choked on his rice. He coughed as he covered his mouth.

“Oi, you okay?” Kyungsoo asked, rubbing his back. Meanwhile, Sungmi gave him a glass of water to drink. Chanyeol thanked her in between his coughing fit.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” He glanced at Kyungsoo over the glass he was drinking on. Kyungsoo was gazing at him with that wide-eyed look again. Chanyeol could swear that those eyes were the bait. How Chanyeol’s heart had done a sudden flip at the sight of it. How his heart had known the existence of love once again.

Yeah, the realization that he was in love had been quite a shock, considering how long it had been since he felt it. He couldn’t even remember how falling in love before had been like. Though, it wasn’t important anymore. All that mattered was how it felt like right now, how surreal it was. Because what the fuck, his heart was now functioning for other things aside from pumping blood throughout his body. And no, he was a romantic so he wouldn’t listen about how it was actually his brain-stimulating chemicals to feel like he was in love.

Kyungsoo gave him silent glances all throughout the course of the meal. Chanyeol hoped that he wasn’t acting too weirdly, considering he could feel how hot his face was.

Chanyeol had volunteered to wash the dishes. Kyungsoo agreed immediately. Meanwhile, Sungmi scolded his son over how he could make a visitor do the dishes. Chanyeol just laughed it off and said that it was totally fine.

Then, later on, they hung out in the back garden and sat on the low wooden bench. Chanyeol suggested to finally eat the watermelon they had brought while lounging in the garden. They agreed. He volunteered to cut the watermelon himself while Kyungsoo decided to help.

So they went back to the kitchen while Sungmi was left in the garden.

Chanyeol ignored how Kyungsoo was blatantly staring at him as he cut the watermelon in half and into smaller pieces.

“Here, taste it.” Chanyeol held out a watermelon slice to Kyungsoo.

Without any preamble, Kyungsoo held his wrist and leaned forward to eat the fruit.

Chanyeol froze. He could feel Kyungsoo’s lips touching his fingers. His breath hitched, feeling how soft Kyungsoo’s lips were even at minimal contact, or maybe it was just his senses starting to go into overdrive. And when Kyungsoo didn’t move in his position, lips still wrapped around the piece of watermelon and looked up at Chanyeol through his eyelashes, the tall doctor might have forgotten to breathe altogether. He could swear that Kyungsoo was doing that on purpose.

Then Kyungsoo bit into the fruit, taking the whole piece into his mouth. Only then did he release Chanyeol.

“It’s really sweet, nice choice of fruit,” Kyungsoo commented nonchalantly, still chewing as if he hadn’t done something so sinful with his lips that Chanyeol had almost lost it right there, and pushed Kyungsoo against the counter to finally feel those plump lips in any way possible.

Chanyeol cleared his throat. “Y-yeah…”

He continued slicing the fruit, albeit a little shakily.

They came back to the back garden holding a platter of sliced watermelon and glasses of watermelon shake courtesy of Kyungsoo who wasn’t running out of creative ideas when it came to food.

Sungmi was delighted. They talked about a lot of random things as they ate the fruit. Chanyeol had talked about his family. Sungmi remembered how loving his late husband had been. Kyungsoo being Kyungsoo stayed mostly listening. They almost didn’t realize that it was late in the afternoon and time for sundown. Their stomachs were almost going to burst with watermelon and the laughter they had shared.

Admittedly, it had been a while since Chanyeol had a great time like that, his shoulders loosening up from his own stressful life and laughing like there was no tomorrow. More importantly, there was Kyungsoo, who looked so bright and handsome that Chanyeol just wanted to simultaneously melt and combust every time Kyungsoo would give him that wide grin and his eyes would turn into crescents.

His chest hurt in a good way.

Before they knew it, Sungmi was walking the two out of the gate as they bid their farewell to the older woman.

“Come back again soon, okay?” Sungmi said as they stopped outside the gate.

“Sure, mother-in-law, I’ll drag Kyungsoo here when we are both free.”

“Thank you.” Sungmi smiled at him.

Kyungsoo only rolled his eyes but hugged his mother in farewell.

The two climbed into the car as Sungmi disappeared back inside the house.

“Thank you for inviting me here,” Chanyeol said earnestly as he buckled his seatbelt. “This was the most fun I had in a while.” He looked up.

Kyungsoo was staring at him. His body angled, facing him. He hadn’t buckled up yet.

“What?” Chanyeol asked. He turned his head to face the windshield. “Buckle up now.” He was about to start the engine.

“I was just thinking if I should tell you now, or I was just being like this because I feel so happy too today.”

Chanyeol's hand faltered on the ignition. He gazed at Kyungsoo. “Huh?”

“Be my boyfriend.”

Chanyeol froze, staring wide-eyed at Kyungsoo. His mind was still processing what Kyungsoo had just said. He was so taken aback that his mind was working extra slower than a turtle walking. Kyungsoo was staring at him, waiting. A romantic confession might consist of nice background music, surrounded by lit candles or rose petals, and with a sunset as some sort of backdrop. Chanyeol might have thought one of those things when he had been imagining this moment with Kyungsoo. What he hadn’t realized until now, that the quietness that surrounded them, that there was nothing around them but the leather upholstery of his car, and Kyungsoo’s round eyes staring at him was the most perfect moment ever. 

Because this moment was something that they could call theirs. Only theirs. They had created the path that led them to this unique moment. And Chanyeol might have felt like crying because above everything else, all that matters was how his feelings had been reciprocated finally. He felt like floating too.

“Kyungsoo-yah…”

Then Kyungsoo leaned forward and kissed him.

Chanyeol groaned at the softness of Kyungsoo’s lips. God, he had lost count of how many times he had imagined those lips to be within his touch. Now that it was finally happening, Chanyeol wasted no time to reciprocate; opening his mouth and letting his tongue explore. Kyungsoo let him. His eyes fluttered close as his lips did all the work while simultaneously melting at Kyungso’s touch. His hand made its way to the back of Kyungsoo’s neck, pulling him impossibly closer. This was all he ever wanted, and it probably felt like it was so, so much more...

They pulled away when the need for air became hard to ignore. His eyes opened as he leaned his forehead against Kyungsoo, breathing a little ragged, heart thumping a little louder, and his love for Kyungsoo felt so right and fitting like the final piece on a jigsaw puzzle... As if it was something he had been waiting for all his life.

He kissed Kyungsoo’s forehead and whispered. “Yours. I’m yours.” Always had been since their story had started.

Kyungsoo’s eyes were still closed but he was smiling.

And then Chanyeol remembered something.

He withdrew, blinking the daze out of his system. Kyungsoo opened his eyes by then.

“Hang on a second,” Chanyeol suddenly said.

“Huh?” It was Kyungsoo’s turn to blink.

“Wait a sec,” Chanyeol unbuckled his seatbelt. 

“W-where are you going?”

Chanyeol ignored him as he opened the car door and climbed down.

“Yah-” Kyungsoo tried to call him. But Chanyeol slammed the door closed and he was already walking around his car.

“Mother-in-law!” Chanyeol shouted as he went through the gate of Kyungsoo’s house and into the yard.

“Mother-in-law!” The doctor called again.

Sungmi appeared in the doorway, approaching him. “Did you forget something? Why did you come back?”

He hugged Sungmi so suddenly that it startled the older woman.

“W-why? What’s with the sudden..?”

Chanyeol was all smiles as he spoke. “Kyungsoo finally gave me an answer. He’s my boyfriend now.”

“Omo!”

Sungmi was ecstatic and beyond delighted. She hugged Chanyeol back so tight and with all the fondness that a mother could give to her child.

“I’m so happy! Finally..”

They might have probably jumped around while hugging.

“Seriously? You came back for that?”

The two broke away from their hug and turned in the direction of the voice. Kyungsoo was standing not far away from them.

“Of course!” Chanyeol beamed at him. “Mother-in-law has to know immediately!”

“My son,” Sungmi beckoned Kyungsoo, looking at him softly. “Come here. I’m so happy for both of you.”

“So, you’re not going to disown me now?” Kyungsoo asked but approached his mom anyway.

“Of course. I won’t anymore!”

They all laughed. Sungmi engulfed Kyungsoo in a hug as he pulled Chanyeol into her arms too. Chanyeol sneaked in a kiss to Kyungsoo’s crown since he was a head taller. A kiss full of love, full of contentment.

It was already dark and they were still on the road. But Chanyeol didn’t mind, time with Kyungsoo was never a waste.

Chanyeol glanced at Kyungsoo who was staring through the car window. He reached for Kyungsoo’s hand on his lap. The latter was startled, his head whipping around to look at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol ignored his startled gaze as his eyes were on the road. With his other free hand, he clasped Kyungsoo’s, slotting his fingers in between the spaces.

Kyungsoo looked at their intertwined fingers. “What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m holding my boyfriend’s hand.” Chanyeol answered without missing a beat.

The police officer only rolled his eyes but there was an affectionate smile on his face.

Chanyeol brought Kyungsoo's hand to his lips, kissing the back of his hand. “ When did you start liking me?”

He glanced at Kyungsoo who looked suddenly flustered.

“D-do we really have to talk about that?” Kyungsoo asked.

The doctor nodded eagerly at him.

Then Kyungsoo sighed and looked back at the window. “I don’t know. I just woke up one day thinking about that look in your eyes.”

He glanced again at Kyungsoo. “Look in my eyes? What look?”

“That kind of focus and determined look when you’re trying to save someone. I’ve seen it quite a few times you know when I’m bringing in casualties in the ER. I can’t forget that look in your eyes. And then I realized that I liked it. Then, later on, I started to like all of you.”

“Hold on a second.” Chanyeol suddenly said as he released Kyungsoo’s hand to hold the gear shift. He made a sharp turn to the right, pulling over to the sidewalk.

“W-what?” Kyungsoo asked. “Why are we stopping?”

“I need a moment. My heart can’t take it.” The doctor said. His forehead thumped forward on the steering wheel.

Kyungsoo burst out laughing, throwing his head back. 

Chanyeol glanced at him. He had the view of his heart-shaped smile. The best view ever.

“Well, you asked for it!” Kyungsoo rubbed his back consolingly.

  
  
  
  


Chanyeol walked through the empty and unfamiliar hallway. He had made a detour to another hospital before going to work. His eyes scanned the signboards plastered on the wall as a guide to find the right way he was supposed to head to.

He stopped in front of a big glass sliding door. There was a label plastered on the wall next to the door that said: _Operating Room Unit A-1_

There was also a small flat-screen TV attached on the other wall that showed the doctors with on-going procedures in the OR. He searched the screen for a name.

_Dr. Park Young Mi - Normal Spontaneous Delivery (OB) - On-going_

So Chanyeol waited.

Not even thirty minutes had passed when the status on the screen for Dr. Park Young Mi changed to: _Procedure Finished._

And then, the door slid open. A middle-aged woman in a dark blue scrub suit went out.

Chanyeol’s eyes lit up. “Mom!”

Young Mi was surprised. “Son, what are you doing here? Is there something wrong?”

“Nothing.” Chanyeol went and gave his mom a back hug. “I just missed you.”

Young Mi was even more startled but she was smiling. “What’s with a back hug? Are you seven?”

Chanyeol nodded. “I am always seven for you, aren’t I? By the way, your seven-year-old son has a boyfriend now. I’m just letting you know.”

“What?” Young Mi froze.

“I have a boyfriend now.”

“Hold on,” Young Mi released herself from Chanyeol’s hold. She turned around to face him. “Since when did you have a boyfriend? Why am I only learning of this now? Who is he? Did your sister and your father already know about this?”

Chanyeol laughed at his mother’s questions one after another. “We just got together the other day. We were so busy with our respective careers that I only got to tell you now. His name is Do Kyungsoo and he’s the most wonderful person I’ve ever met. And no, you’re the first one to know because I love you that much.”

Young Mi’s face melted into that motherly smile. Then she sighed. “I’m so relieved. I thought you were planning to be in a seminary or something, and that’s why you were not seeking a partner now.”

He burst out laughing. “What? Seminary? I’m an atheist.”

“Who knows if you became religious now? I know a doctor who almost went into the seminary, that's why he’s not dating.” 

“Ohhh,” Chanyeol said. “Anyway, I really just dropped by to let you know that and to see you too. I’m going now. I have work too.”

“Okay.” Young Mi hugged his son once again. “Take care. You'd better introduce Kyungsoo-ssi soon, alright?”

Chanyeol nodded. He started to walk away, walking backward and waving at his mom.

Young Mi shouted. “Bring him to our family dinner!”

“Since when did we have a family dinner?”

“I’ll set up one for your boyfriend!”

Chanyeol guffawed in laughter. Gosh, he loved his mom so much.

By midday, after coming out of the OR, Chanyeol checked his phone. There was a message from his sister. A reply to the picture of Kyungsoo he had sent earlier. The news about his boyfriend had reached her as fast as lightning. So naturally, he would get bombarded by it.

_Gosh, Yeol, he’s hot. Where are you finding men like him! And btw, dad and i were together earlier and i showed him the picture. He’s proud._

_Noona! You’ve got a boyfriend already. Tell dad that he raised his son well. And yeah, kyungsoo’s hot. ;)_

  
  
  
Chanyeol and Kyungsoo’s schedules were complicated as it was and factoring in their dating life, it had become more complicated. That’s why they were taking advantage of every free block of time available to spend together.

He stopped in front of a door at the end of the dimly lit hallway. He was wearing a white turtleneck underneath his brown long coat. The change of season was fast, and autumn had greeted them with a biting chill in the air. His usual satchel bag had a strap now and slung on one shoulder. He was holding a paper bag in one hand, and a cup holder that contained two cups of coffee in another. He pressed the doorbell.

Seconds later, a bleary-eyed Kyungsoo opened the door. He looked like he had just woken up. 

He blinked owlishly at Chanyeol. “Yeol? Why are you here? I thought we’re going to meet for breakfast.”

“I got impatient to see you so I just brought breakfast to you.” He held up the paper bag and the cup holder as he grinned. “I hope you don’t mind. I bought your favorites.”

Kyungsoo smiled endearingly. “Of course, I don’t.” He opened the door wider to let Chanyeol in.

The tall doctor made a beeline to his kitchen after toeing off his shoes by the door. He put down their food on the dining table, and then he shrugged off his coat and hung it on the back of one of the chairs. He put down his bag on the same chair.

“What time did you get home?” Chanyeol asked when Kyungsoo came in and started to inspect the paper bag.

“A little late.” Kyungsoo yawned. “Around four maybe. We had a traffic accident earlier. A casualty had been brought to your hospital.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said. “It wouldn’t happen to be the victim of drunk driving, would it?”

“That’s the guy.” Kyungsoo snapped his fingers. He got hold of a muffin with vanilla frosting. “Are they okay though?” He started to munch on the muffin.

“Last I heard before I left, he was already in the recovery room. Why didn’t you come? The ER staff was starting to miss you.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Are you sure it’s them who’s missing me and not you? I was there last week. Anyway, I had to escort the drunk driver straight to the station. I don’t know why it has to be the innocent who gets hurt and not the bad ones. Did you know that the drunk driver was unscathed in the accident? And honestly, I’m starting to feel a little bit bad because whenever I go there, someone with me needs your help.”

“That so?” Chanyeol caged Kyungsoo with his arms on both sides since Kyungsoo was perched at the edge of the table. The doctor hunched over so he was face to face with Kyungsoo. The smaller man only hummed in response. He was busy with his muffin, and there was a smudge of vanilla frosting on his upper lip.

Chanyeol leaned forward and captured his lips. Kyungsoo whined. He sucked on his upper lip to get the frosting. 

“I was eating!”

“You’ve got frosting on your lips. I cleaned it for you.” Chanyeol licked his lips.

“That so?” Kyungsoo’s expression immediately shifted as his eyes glazed over at Chanyeol’s lips.

Chanyeol hummed and surged forward for another kiss. This time Kyungsoo was prepared as he wrapped his arms around his neck, responding back with equal fervor. He adjusted on his seat and also wrapped his legs around Chanyeol’s waist, beckoning him to be closer to him.

And Chanyeol couldn’t help but taste every bit of his skin as his lips moved down to the underside of his jaw, nibbling. Kyungsoo angled his head to the side for more access. A soft whine escaped him when Chanyeol licked his earlobe.

“Why do you smell so good?” Chanyeol whispered huskily in his ear.

Kyungsoo almost whimpered, as if he was holding himself back.

“I’ve got one hour, baby,” The tall doctor continued to whisper. “Want to make the most of it?”

The smaller man pulled back and nodded eagerly at him. He set aside his muffin before clashing his lips with Chanyeol once again. Kyungsoo carded his fingers through his hair. Meanwhile, Chanyeol’s hands slipped under his shirt, feeling the warmth Kyungsoo’s skin radiated. They had done this a lot of times, the hands all over their bodies like fire against their skin, and getting lost in the kiss, drowning at the moment, forgetting the existence of everything, and submerging in the endless ocean of yearning for one another.

Then Chanyeol’s phone suddenly rang in his jeans' pocket, startling them both. Popping the little bubble they were in. They immediately pulled away. Kyungsoo only sighed as he leaned his cheek on Chanyeol’s shoulder. Both of them already knew what the call meant. Suffering from interruptions plenty of times before, they had gotten used to it.

The doctor fished out his phone from his jeans. Kyungsoo hugged him, wrapping his arms around his middle as if Chanyeol was a life-size plush toy. 

“Hello?” Chanyeol cleared his throat.

“Dr. Park. Patient Jung’s result is out. As you suspected, there’s a build-up of pulmonary embolism,” the intern reported on the other line.

“How’s her vitals?” The doctor asked.

“Blood pressure 70/90, currently experiencing DOB but she’s already hooked to the oxygen tank.”

“Did she vomit blood?”

“No, at least not yet.”

“Give her four ampules of dopamine. Continue to monitor her blood pressure. I’ll be there twenty minutes tops.”

“Got it doc.”

Chanyeol hung up.

“I’m sorry.” Chanyeol kissed the crown of Kyungsoo's head. He had said that line plenty of times too. Sometimes, Chanyeol would get scared that maybe Kyungsoo was getting tired of that repeated phrase, that repeated disappointment that they had to part ways abruptly, and that meant less time together.

“I think my hour had to be cut short.”

Kyungsoo looked up at Chanyeol. His chin was tucked on Chanyeol’s chest. And then Kyungsoo smiled breathtakingly and that lessened his worries a bit.

“It’s okay.” Kyungsoo released him. “Go save your patient.”

His Kyungsoo who was so understanding, so, so good for him. That sometimes, he wondered with an ache in his chest, if he deserved this infinite patience from him, wondering how long it was going to take before he got fed up with his unrestrained schedules-

“Hey, none of that.” Kyungsoo smoothed the line in between his brows, smoothing his worries away. He didn’t know he had been frowning.

“I truly understand. Don’t worry about it.” Kyungsoo gave him a reassuring smile

“Thank you.” Chanyeol kissed him again on the lips, more of a smack on the lips. Then he gathered his things (including the coffee) and left Kyungsoo sitting on the table, his legs dangling and swinging. Kyungsoo waved at him.

 _Later._ Chanyeol promised. He would make up for the time cut short for the two of them. He would always abide by those promises, because that was all he could do for his Kyungsoo, aside from loving him utterly.

When the Later came, and they were fortunate enough to not get any interruptions, they would be like this, naked and connected in every way possible. Their limbs tangled together, breath labored and ragged. No matter how sticky or gross they were with their sweat covered bodies, it was Chanyeol’s favorite moment.

Not because of pure lust, though sex wih Kyungsoo was always amazing, but because this was the most intimate they could ever be with each other. Literally and figuratively, no barrier between them, all emotions laid out in the open. A lasting memory that was catalogued in their mind so there would be a fleeting thought they could remember with a smile when they were apart later on.

“You okay?” Chanyeol’s one elbow propped on the bed as he hovered over Kyungsoo. He brushed aside the damp hair on Kyungsoo’s forehead.

Kyungsoo could only nod, almost delirious as Chanyeol bottomed out.

Then Chanyeol started to rock his hips. Series of moans startled to tumble out of those pretty plump lips of his. Kyungsoo tightened his legs wrapped around Chanyeol’s waist. Chanyeol groaned, almost growling at the tight walls clamping down on his cock as he continued to rock his hips. It was pure bliss. 

Kyungsoo’s eyes rolled back as he whispered Chanyeol’s name over and over again, almost reverently. Chanyeol almost toppled to the edge by the way he had called his name. But not just yet, he still wanted to drag this feeling a little bit longer, still wanted to give Kyungsoo the ecstasy and drunken euphoria as he continued to nail his prostate.

Kyungsoo cried out, eyes shutting close, and gripping the bedsheets with a tight knuckle grip.

“Chanyeol!”

“Yes, baby, come for me, it’s okay. Let go.”

A few more thrusts and Kyungsoo was coming, his cum staining his abdomen. Though, Chanyeol continued to move with stuttered thrusts, almost faltering, chasing his own climax. Kyungsoo whined at the overstimulation. Then he was also coming into the condom with a grunt in Kyungsoo’s ear that earned him a whimper.

Chanyeol closed his eyes for a bit, regaining his breath and coming down from his high. Kyungsoo started to pepper his neck with gentle kisses as if to calm down his erratic heartbeat and unsteady breathing. He pulled out his softening cock from Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo whined again and the latter kissed his forehead.

He stood up to discard his condom. Then he came back, flopping down to the mattress. He lay on his side staring at Kyungsoo’s profile since he was lying on his back. Gosh, Kyungsoo had no bad angle, something that Chanyeol discovered a long time ago, something that would never get old for him and would always take his breath away.

Then Kyungsoo turned on his side too, so they were facing each other. He just lay there staring at him.

“What?” Chanyeol asked.

“Uh,” Kyungsoo tried to say.

Chanyeol strained closer to hear him clearly.

“Nothing..” Instead, Kyungsoo snuggled closer to Chanyeol. His face pressed to Chanyeol’s bare chest.

Chanyeol snorted a laugh. “What was that? Are you still not here?”

Kyungsoo only pinched his chest in retaliation. Chanyeol jerked a bit but it had him laughing harder. The smaller man didn’t say anything because he promptly fell asleep.

Or their Later could be something as simple as this but it didn’t mean that Chanyeol liked it any less. Probably, all moments with Kyungsoo were incredible.

Kyungsoo was pushing the cart as they maneuvered their way through the aisles of the supermarket. Chanyeol was behind him, his arms caging Kyungsoo. There was an opened Peppero box in the taller man's hand. And there was a Peppero stick between his lips, like a cigarette. They had decided to go grocery shopping together for their own stock in their respective apartments as a routine. It was a win-win for them. They got to spend more time together, and they would get things done.

Kyungsoo was just silently searching for the brand of rock salt he wanted to buy.

Chanyeol nudged him silently too. Kyungsoo twisted around to look up at him. He stopped in his tracks. Chanyeol pointed at his Peppero stick and the latter immediately understood him.

“Stop being a seven-year-old kid in the middle of the supermarket, Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo reprimanded. He was about to push the cart and move along when Chanyeol gripped the handle, preventing the latter from moving forward. He insisted, pointing to his Peppero.

Chanyeol could be really stubborn sometimes when he wanted to.

Kyungsoo only rolled his eyes. Chanyeol grinned and hunched over as the smaller man reached over and bit the other end of the biscuit stick until their lips met.

Afterward, Kyungsoo pulled away with a glare. He lightly slapped Chanyeol’s cheek. “Are you happy now?”

Chanyeol grinned even wider. “I am.”

There were giggling ahjummas, coming their way, and looking in their direction. Kyungsoo pushed the cart faster and elbowed Chanyeol on the ribs to leave him alone. It had the doctor laughing and following Kyungsoo like a puppy.

Time went by with the two of them. Kyungsoo was still coming into the ER with people who needed medical attention. Chanyeol would always be there, waiting and attentive. It was still all the same except that little secret smile that would bloom on their faces when their gazes had connected.

One night, Kyungsoo brought in a man in an all-black outfit. His arm was in a sling with a triangular bandage cloth. The white cloth was tinged red with blood. His left cheek was swollen, and his left eye was bruised. Also, his wrists were handcuffed.

Kyungsoo almost shoved the man into the nearest empty bed. There were more police officers trailing behind Kyungsoo than usual. Even Kim Minseok was there. Chanyeol was quite stunned. He had rarely seen Kyungsoo with a cold look on his face because of the patients he had been bringing in. Though, the small scrape on Kyungsoo’s cheek didn’t escape Chanyeol’s notice.

“What happened to him?” Chanyeol asked, referring to the man.

“I punched him in the face,” Kyungsoo said, who continued to give the man a look as the latter slumped on the bed. “There was a laceration on his arm. I think it's already clotted. He might also have some broken fingers. Also, he was caught red-handed stabbing someone to death.”

Right on cue, another man was being wheeled into the ER, unconscious and bathed in his own blood. Jongdae and Yixing attended the patient on another empty bed across.

“Someone, call the GS, Dr. Kim Junmyeon is still on duty!” Jongdae shouted.

Not the first time he had treated people like him. He had sworn to the Hippocratic oath and all. As long as he saw someone bleeding, he had to act upon it somehow.

Chanyeol asked the nurse to take the vital signs and X-ray for the hand. Then, he took care of the arm. Kyungsoo stood behind the curtains. He had to be nearby and keep an eye on the accused murderer as some sort of protocol.

Chanyeol finished stitching the laceration on the arm. He just turned around to put away the medical tools he had used when there was a loud thud. The doctor yelped. He whipped around, eyes wide, body almost frozen in place.

Kyungsoo was standing next to the bed, pinning down the man on the bed and holding the newly stitched arm behind his back. The man was in an awkward position since his other hand was handcuffed to the bed.

“W-what just happened?” Chanyeol asked.

Medical personnel crowded their area because of the commotion, and some police officers also came to the scene.

“This man was going to attack you-” Kyungsoo snarled. “Probably was going to hold you hostage.”

“I was not!”

“You asshole! Then why were you reaching for the scalpel?” Kyungsoo’s grip on the arm tightened. The man cried out in pain.

“You’re going to open up the stitches…” Chanyeol tried to say.

Kyungsoo only dug his nails into his arm.

Chanyeol was amazed. His boyfriend was an embodiment of small but terrible. It was hot.

When the commotion died down and the accused murderer was safe to be discharged and escorted to the police mobile and then to the station, Chanyeol pulled Kyungsoo into one of the empty beds and pulled the curtains closed.

“W-what are you doing?” Kyungsoo asked him, confused.

Chanyeol didn’t speak as he pushed Kyungsoo on his shoulder to sit down on the edge of the bed.

“Look what you have done to your handsome face,” Chanyeol murmured, tracing the scratch on Kyungsoo's cheek.

“I’ll live.” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes but his breath caught in his throat when Chanyeol leaned down and pressed a kiss on the wound.

Chanyeol smiled as he pulled away. “I’m kissing it better.”

“Seriously?”

Chanyeol nodded as he pulled on a pair of latex gloves. He held tweezers with a cotton ball in it. Then he dabbed the cotton ball on the alcohol in the stainless steel plate. “This is going to sting a bit.” He stood in between Kyungso’s legs.

Kyungsoo snorted. “Just get on with it -Ah!”

Chanyeol might or might have not pressed the cotton ball a little too hard on Kyungsoo’s cut.

Kyungsoo was wincing.

“I told you, it’s going to sting.”

Kyungsoo was cradling his cheek. “Are you really a doctor? Why are you being too harsh on a patient.”

With his other hand, Chanyeol held his chin to lift his face up. He blew on the cut to lessen the sting. He looked into Kyungsoo’s eyes. “Am I still being harsh?”

“Yes,” Kyungsoo said without missing a beat.

Chanyeol pecked him on the lips. “Still harsh?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “Yeah, the harshest doctor I’ve ever met-”

Chanyeol kissed him again. This time, deeper and open-mouthed. He was about to pull away when Kyungsoo held him by the nape to pull him closer so he could slot his tongue into Chanyeol’s parted lips. Chanyeol almost moaned, almost dropped the tweezers that were still in his hand, and he was getting heady with Kyungsoo’s tongue in his mouth. It was addicting.

Then Kyungsoo pulled away. Chanyeol almost chased his lips back.

They stared at each other. There was something swirling in Kyungsoo’s big round eyes, some emotion that Chanyeol couldn’t name. Kyungsoo was looking at him like that again; eyes soft but there was like a strain in it, as if he was guarding something from slipping past his wide eyes. Chanyeol had been noticing that look on him lately. Kyungsoo would stare at him, fidget a little, and looked like he was going to say something but unable to say so in the end.

“Chanyeol, I-”

“Hmm? Yes, baby?” Chanyeol whispered.

“I, uh-”

The curtains were suddenly yanked aside. The two sprang apart like they had been shocked. Chanyeol finally dropped the tweezers. He fumbled to catch it before it fell to the ground. He almost knocked over the tools and bottles on the small cart beside the bed. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo was suddenly interested to look at the IV pole.

Jongdae blinked at them. “Uh, Kyungsoo, Minseok had been looking for you-”

Kyungsoo sprang from his seat. “I’m going-”

“No, it’s fine!” Dr. Kim waved his hand at him. “Just stay there and let Chanyeol treat your wound. He just actually wanted me to pass the message that he’s already left for the police station without you.”

“O-oh, okay..”

Chanyeol pushed him down again on the bed, whipping out the ointment cream from his white coat. “I’ll just apply this cream on his wound and he’s good to go.” His voice was professional and blank.

Jongdae nodded. “By the way,” He scratched his chin. “What’s with Yixing? Why does he keep on mentioning something about mating place when it comes to you two?”

Chanyeol almost squirted out all the contents of the cream when he curled his hand into fist around the tube. “Oh my god! That was a long time ago. When will he ever drop that?!”

“Never!” Yixing’s voice echoed somewhere. “I still have my eyes on you, Park Chanyeol, as long as you’re on my turf.”

“What’s that all about?” Jongdae asked, intrigued.

“Nothing.” Chanyeol lightly shoved Jongdae out. 

“What is it? Tell me.” Jongdae whined.

“I still have a patient to treat, please get out of here.” Chanyeol sharply pulled the curtains closed again in Jongdae’s face.

“Seriously, I’ve been hearing that between you and Dr. Zhang. What’s with the mating place?” Kyungsoo asked this time.

“It’s really nothing. Never mind.” Chanyeol was dabbing the cream on Kyungsoo’s cheek with his bare hand after sanitizing it.

“I don’t think that’s nothing,” Kyungsoo muttered. Thankfully, he didn’t persist.

The thing that Kyungsoo wanted to say was briefly forgotten.

  
  
  
Days later, Kyungsoo was finally able to tell what he had wanted to say. It was just an ordinary weekend afternoon at Chanyeol’s apartment. Both of them had a day off. So Kyungsoo was hanging out in his apartment doing nothing. 

They were waiting for Chanyeol’s favorite drama on the TV. They were always both tired and busy with their work. A day together doing nothing was like a huge blessing for them already. Kyungsoo was not even watching the TV. He was lying down on the couch, head on the armrest, and playing with the seams of the throw pillow. Chanyeol came back with a glass of water. He went to the other end of the couch, lifting Kyungsoo’s feet up so he could sit on the couch. Then he settled Kyungsoo’s feet on his lap.

Chanyeol held the remote, switching to the channel where his favorite drama would be aired. It was time. He sipped on his water.

“I love you.”

Chanyeol choked on his water. 

The water might have gone to a wrong pipe in his throat and ended up back in his nasal cavity. God. That fucking hurt.

He coughed, putting away his glass on the coffee table. There was a splatter of water on his thighs, hands, and even on the floor. Kyungsoo was on his side in an instant, rubbing his back.

“A-are you okay?”

“My nose hurt,” Chanyeol whined. “The water went up into my fucking nose.”

“Oh, sorry…” Kyungsoo reached for the tissue box on the coffee table. He dabbed Chanyeol’s nose with the tissue.

A little later, when Chanyeol’s nose hurt less and he had calmed down, Kyungsoo mumbled. “I’m sorry I surprised you. My timing is never right when it comes to this sort of thing. I’ve been trying to find the right moment to tell you and when I thought it was, you choked on your water. I’m never good at this. I’m never good at expressing vocally about how I feel.”

Chanyeol dabbed his nose with a tissue and chucked it on the growing pile of used tissue on the coffee table. He would throw them out later. “Come here.” He patted his lap.

Kyungsoo only stared at him.

“Come on!” Chanyeol whined again. “This deserves a cuddle. You finally told me you love me. I’ve been waiting because I didn’t want to pressure you. I’m so happy!”

Kyungsoo finally crawled onto his lap and settled there. His head was in the crook of Chanyeol’s neck as the latter wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo’s petite form.

“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo mumbled again, playing with his fingers. “That it took me this long to realize and say it. I was kind of scared that you’re going to get tired of me because I was so slow..”

“No way!” Chanyeol said, tightening his hold around him. “I was the one who was thinking that you’re going to get tired of me! We have less time together because I’m always in the hospital. I’m scared too, you know, that you’d realize that you want to be with someone who can be one call away and be there in an instant when you want to. And not someone like me, who’d missed a call from you because I was in the OR. And for the record, I love you too.”

Kyungsoo nuzzled his neck. “No, you’re perfect. I don’t want a boyfriend who’s always nagging me. Your busy schedule works just fine with me.”

“Even if we get blue-balled most of the time because of The Calls?”

“Uhmm….”

“You’re thinking too long.”

Kyungsoo laughed on his neck. His breath was ticklish. “Just kidding. I’ve gotten used to it at this point. I admit it was frustrating at first. But thinking about your patients who need your help, I’ve thought better.”

“Kyungsoo-yah.” Chanyeol rocked him in his arms. “Why are you so perfect, and so understanding!”

“Shut up. You’re the first one to understand me with my job. I’ve learned from you. I know how important your job is for you.”

“I love you,” Chanyeol kissed his temple. His lips stayed on Kyungsoo’s temple as he continued to whisper. “I love you, l love you, I love you-”

Kyungsoo covered his mouth with his hand. Chanyeol bit his hand.

“Yah!” Kyungsoo swiped his fingers on Chanyeol’s hoodie.

  
  
  
  


The door of Chanyeol’s office opened, and the doctor looked up from his table. Baekhyun trudged towards the couch his butt hitting the cushion. Then he fell sideways, his head hitting the armrest. Chanyeol turned his chair in his direction as he nudged the thin-framed reading glasses up his nose.

“Heol,” Chanyeol said. “I didn’t know that I have a zombie friend.”

“Shut up, I haven’t slept in over 46 hours.” Baekhyun groaned. “My surgeries overlapped and I was in the OR for over 36 hours.”

“Sleep there if you don’t have any schedule later.” Chanyeol went back on his computer.

“No, I wasn’t here to sleep.” Baekhyun sat up.

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow at him.

“What are you planning on your birthday?” Baekhyun smiled. He crossed his legs and leaned with his elbow on his knee, chin propped on his hand.

Right. His birthday was in a week.

“Depends, whatever Kyungsoo’s into,” Chanyeol muttered. His eyes focused on the screen. “I just want to spend my birthday with him and it’s going to be the best birthday ever.”

“Gosh, you really got it bad. Disgusting.”

“I bet you’re even worse with Yixing.” Chanyeol glanced at him. “I almost walked in on you two making out in the locker room the other day - why was he even the surgeon’s lounge when he was supposed to be in the ER?”

"Because my dear boyfriend was thoughtful enough to bring me dinner. And I just gave him a reward.” Baekhyun said, smirked salaciously.

“Eww,” Then Chanyeol narrowed his eyes. “He’s breathing down on my neck just to keep his ER a sacred place and here he was, tainting the lounge. Dr. Zhang Yixing, we’re going to have a long talk….”

“Huh?” Baekhyun only blinked at him in confusion.

  
  
  
  


“Hey,” Chanyeol put his elbow on the table. 

Kyungsoo was sitting across, busy with his phone. He looked up at him with a questioning gaze. They were in their usual cafe for breakfast. The aroma of coffee was strong in the air and the jazz music was a lull noise in the background.

“I was just thinking…” Chanyeol began. “My birthday is coming up in a week-”

Kyungsoo froze. Then he spoke slowly. “It’s on November 27th, right?

“Yeah, why?”

“Nothing,” Kyungsoo said. He cleared his throat. “So what are you planning on your birthday? Do you want any gift-”

“No, no, no,” Chanyeol shook his head vehemently. “I don’t want any gifts from you. I just want to spend more time with you on my birthday. Is that okay with you?”

Kyungsoo stared at him for a moment and the doctor got afraid for a second that Kyungsoo didn’t want any of that. Then he broke into a smile. There was a fond look on his face that Chanyeol knew too well. “Of course…”

The doctor beamed at him.

The days passed by in a blur. Actually, Chanyeol wasn’t really looking forward to his actual birthday. He was more excited about the fact that he’d get to spend it with Kyungsoo. Who knows how many birthdays he had spent in the hospital half dead and tired? And his birthday would just be a blur.

He tried to clear his schedule on the 27th as much as he could. His family and friends were all in the medical field, and the likelihood that they could gather around on that specific day was slim, almost non-existent. He had tried before. Once, he had tried to organize a small party with his friends and family at his apartment. The party hadn’t even started and one by one they had been scrambling to head out of his house with a phone in hand, barking medicines and orders on the other line. Baekhyun, Junmyeon, and Sehun —the head nurse of the OR — had tried to stay as long as they could. But in the end, Chanyeol, himself, had received The Call, cutting the party short.

It had been pretty lonely at first. That was why he had forgone the celebration and instead spent it working. That was how it was going to end up at some point anyway.

But this time, Chanyeol liked to think that it would be different. He wasn’t as loaded with work compared to when he was just an intern. He had asked Yixing before for a day off. The chief of the ER had agreed, telling him that it was going to be his birthday gift for him. He had pushed back all his scheduled procedures by a day or two. Thankfully, none of those were urgent and life-threatening yet so he could delay them. He also had no outpatient consultations that day. He had asked (pleaded) the interns to only call him if it was totally a life or death situation.

So yeah, this time it was going to be different because he had Kyungsoo now.

An early birthday surprise came in on the 25th.

He came home one night, surprisingly early. The suspicious smell of kimchi jjigae filled his nostrils. He paused in his doorway. He could hear sounds in the kitchen. His speakers were on, playing RnB songs. There was only one person who liked RnB so much. 

Chanyeol dropped his things on the floor and ran to his kitchen.

Kyungsoo was standing by the kitchen counter, chopping something. There was a pot on the stove. He wore his usual black t-shirt.

Chanyeol made his way to him, wrapping his arms around Kyungsoo’s middle. The latter was not surprised. He had probably heard the beep on the door when Chanyeol had come in. Kyungsoo just continued to chop the green onion.

“Don’t you have work tonight?” Chanyeol kissed the crown of his hair. Kyungsoo’s hair suspiciously smelled like his shampoo. Had he taken a bath here? Not that Chanyeol minded.

“No, I don’t,” Kyungsoo put the chopped green onion into the simmering kimchi jjigae in the pot. The stew was almost done. “But tomorrow, I have to report for work super early.”

“Really?” Chanyeol continued to nuzzle his hair. “You’ve got some special assignment or something?”

There was a pause.

“Yes, you could say that,” Kyungsoo answered. He started to wash the kitchen tools in the sink. “But it's nothing special. We’re going to have a long briefing about some of our unsolved traffic cases.”

“When are you going home then?”

“I’ll be here before your birthday.”

Chanyeol hummed, arms still wrapped around him.

“Wash up and then we can have dinner.” Kyungsoo turned off the stove.

“Just one more minute.” Chanyeol put his chin on top of Kyungsoo’s head.

“Chanyeol.” That was a warning.

“Okay, fine. I’ll go take a bath now. Jeez.”

After taking a bath, Chanyeol headed straight to his walk-in closet in his robes. He noticed that there was a black duffle bag on the table in the corner. He opened the bag. It contained Kyungsoo’s clothes. He ran out of the room.

He found Kyungsoo scrubbing the counter.

“Are you going to sleep here?” Chanyeol approached him excitedly.

Kyungsoo glanced back at him. “Yes. Why do you look so surprised? This is not the first time I have slept over here.”

The taller man looked gleeful. “What’s with the sudden sleepover?”

“Don’t you want to?”

“What kind of question is that? Who doesn’t want his boyfriend to have a sleepover with him?”

Kyungsoo went back to scrubbing the counter immaculately. “Are we? Are we really going to sleep later?”

Chanyeol’s heart thumped a little louder at the thought of where their night might be headed. 

Kyungsoo looked back at him. He sighed. “Would you put on some clothes? Let’s eat _first_.” He emphasized the word first. “I’m starving.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol said merrily and went back to his room to put on some clothes.

As they ate, they talked about their day. Since it was Kyungsoo’s day off, he had spent his day doing laundry and grocery shopping for the dinner they were currently eating. Meanwhile, Chanyeol talked about his patients and how their health was improving each day. After they ate, Chanyeol was surprised to see Kyungsoo getting a square box out of the fridge.

It was a cake.

“Why are we having cake already? It’s not yet my birthday.” Chanyeol asked.

“Take it as a pre-celebration. I want it to be special because this is going to be your first birthday with me.”

Chanyeol wanted to cry. It wasn’t even his birthday yet and it was starting to get better already. He was probably right about this year’s birthday being different because there was Kyungsoo who could make it special.

“Then we’ll have another cake on your birthday,” Kyungsoo said, lighting up the candle with a lighter.

“Woah..” Chanyeol was really trying his best to hold in the tears. He swallowed the lump on his throat. “I never have two cakes for my birthday. I love cakes…”

Kyungsoo smiled fondly. He started to sing him a happy birthday song. Then he urged Chanyeol to make a wish before blowing the candle.

“Will my wish come true when it’s not my birthday yet?” Chanyeol frowned.

“It will,” Kyungsoo said firmly.

So Chanyeol clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. He wished. _I hope Kyungsoo will never break up with me ever. I want him by my side forever._ They hadn’t been dating that long but it felt like a long time for Chanyeol and he couldn’t imagine his life without Kyungsoo in it anymore.

And then Chanyeol started to cry. 

Because his heart felt so full and he was just so happy right now. He was so thankful for meeting Kyungsoo. He was thankful that he had survived that Syrian bombing or else he wouldn't be able to meet Kyungsoo at all. And because of that he also thanked Dr. Nam from wherever he was because he had been able to fix him up so he could be in this moment, celebrating another life with a man he loved the most. He didn’t want this kind of happiness to end. 

He opened his eyes and blew the candle.

“Y-yah, why are you crying..?” Kyungsoo said. He tried to hug Chanyeol but Chanyeol ended up hugging him instead.

He was sitting down and Kyungsoo was standing up so Chanyeol ended up with his arms around his boyfriend’s torso and his face buried on Kyungsoo’s stomach.

He tried to stop the tears but they just continued to fall like a broken dam. “I am just so happy right now. Thank you for coming into my life, Kyungsoo-yah.”

Then the next thing Chanyeol knew, Kyungsoo was kissing him. Deep and demanding. Chanyeol held his face. He might be mistaken but Kyungsoo’s face was a bit damp as if he was crying too. Everything was a blur and all he could think about was how Kyungsoo was assaulting his lips relentlessly. His own groan was loud in the silence of the room when Kyungsoo sucked his lower lip and ravished him with his tongue.

Kyungsoo’s open-mouthed kiss went down to his neck. He swiped his tongue along the column of his neck before biting down hard at the junction. Chanyeol moaned, throwing back his head and arching his back. 

“Let’s go to your bedroom now.” Kyungsoo exhaled, staring at him with dilated pupils. Arousal was evident in his piercing gaze, swollen lips, and flushed cheek.

And fuck if it wasn’t the hottest thing ever. Chanyeol didn’t need to be told twice. 

Kyungsoo pushed him down on the bed. Chanyeol’s back hitting the mattress. He immediately straddled Chanyeol’s lap and then went back to kissing him like he was dying and Chanyeol’s lips were his salvation.

Then Chanyeol had to pull away a bit later, gasping for breath. Kyungsoo’s lips were too much. “Oh my God, Kyungsoo. What got you so worked up, baby?”

Kyungsoo’s response was a slow and grating grind on his crotch. Chanyeol let out another moan.

“I want you to fuck me,” Kyungsoo whispered in his ear, low and panting. He continued to grind on him. “I want you in me so bad. I want to ride you. I want to feel full with your cock deep in me. I want to feel all of you.”

Every word reverberated straight to Chanyeol’s cock and he was hard, painfully hard. Kyungsoo wouldn’t stop grinding and Chanyeol couldn’t stop the choked off noise escaping him. His hips bucked to meet Kyungsoo’s grind as he groped his boyfriend’s wonderful ass, pushing him down even further. Just to feel more of that ass and the friction on his length. Kyungsoo moaned in his ear, biting his earlobe, and Chanyeol was positive he had died and moved on to the afterlife. He could probably come like this. With Kyungsoo’s pretty little moans echoing oh so sinfully in their dimly lit room.

But Chanyeol was on a mission. Kyungsoo had just explicitly stated what he wanted. And Chanyeol was not going to deny him of that. So with a grip on his Kyungsoo’s waist, he flipped them over. Kyungsoo yelped, bouncing on the mattress, and lying on his back.

Chanyeol was now on top of him. He stared at him for a moment admiring his boyfriend and the prominent bulge on his sweatpants. 

Chanyeol started to palm it as he murmured. “I’ll make you feel so good, baby…”

Kyungsoo was borderline sobbing. His hands gripping the sheets and he was writhing. His eyes shut. “Y-yes, yes, oh God, yes. I want it.”

Then Chanyeol withdrew his hands to reach for the lube and condom on the bedside drawer. Kyungsoo whined at the loss of contact.

“Let’s not use condoms,” Kyungsoo rasped.

Chanyeol paused in the middle of closing the drawer. Lube and a packet of condom in one hand, he turned to Kyungsoo. 

Kyungsoo was looking at him with half-lidded eyes. “I’m clean. I got tested three months ago before we had sex the first time.”

“God, Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol groaned, chucking the condom back into the drawer. “I’m also clean. Got tested three months ago too. But are you sure?”

“I told you,” Kyungsoo said in a low voice. “I want to feel all of you.”

Chanyeol’s eyes darkened at that. “Take off your clothes. On your hands and knees.”

Kyungsoo scrambled to get up to remove his clothes. Chanyeol did the same. Then Kyungsoo was on all fours. Ass up in the air and his face on the pillow. Chanyeol drizzled his fingers with lube. He kissed Kyungsoo’s ass cheek first before spreading them apart and inserting one finger, breaching his rim.

There was a muffled noise on Kyungsoo’s end since his face was pressed into the pillows.

Then Chanyeol inserted the second and third, feeling Kyungsoo’s walls clamp on his fingers. The pad of his finger repeatedly hit his prostate, and Kyungsoo was quaking under his touch, shoving his ass up into his fingers.

“Chanyeol!” Kyungsoo gasped, resurfacing from the pillows. “I want you now, please. I’m ready now.”

“Sshh, baby, got you,” Chanyeol said soothingly. He crawled towards Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo was really impatient today as he shoved Chanyeol with his back against the headboard. Chanyeol grunted at the headboard digging into his back. And fuck, he might have probably discovered another favorite kink which was Kyungsoo’s impatience. It was a major turn-on, and he was leaking at the tip. Kyungsoo was back to straddling him again. If Chanyeol’s brain was not so clouded with lust, he would have teased Kyungsoo with his impatience. But now, he wanted him as much as his boyfriend did. And all he could do was watch as Kyungsoo started to lower himself on Chanyeol’s cock.

Chanyeol watched, enraptured, and out of breath, slowly feeling Kyungsoo’s tight heat enveloping his length. His hands were on Kyungsoo’s waist again for leverage. Once Kyungsoo was fully seated, he leaned his forehead against Chanyeol's, eyes closed and breathing ragged. 

Chanyeol was not moving, was not breathing because all he could think was how Kyungsoo was so ethereal above him. All he could think about was that hazy feeling with Kyungsoo around him with no barrier at all. 

Then Kyungsoo kissed him again, full of want, full of love. He started to move, circling his hips. Chanyeol gasped on his mouth.

“Fuck-” Kyungsoo swallowed his curse as he continued to kiss his swollen lips.

Kyungsoo slid in and out of his length at a controlled pace at first. He grunted as he finally let go of Chanyeol's lips. So his lips could travel down to his neck and to his collarbone, biting and sucking to leave a mark on its wake. Then he was back on Chanyeol’s lips again, tongue clashing with his own. Afterward, Chanyeol pulled away to reach Kyungsoo’s nipple. He gave it a kitten lick before clamping down his mouth on it and sucked, while his hand was busy pinching and twisting the other nipple. Kyungsoo cried out, back arching into Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo’s movements were becoming erratic. The slap of their skin and their moans filled the air. Chanyeol’s hip bucked up once more to meet Kyungsoo’s thrust. And there was a moment that they had gotten lost in their own pleasure, that they were acting on pure lust. Chanyeol could feel that Kyungsoo was close, and Chanyeol was the same. He was not going to last by the way he could feel the tightness in his abdomen. So he switched them. Kyungsoo’s back was on the mattress again and Chanyeol started to piston his hips into him, fucking him hard and fast, hitting Kyungsoo’s prostate on repeat.

“Chanyeol!”

“Fuck, baby you feel so tight and so, so good,” Chanyeol grunted. “Come for me, baby…”

Kyungsoo’s eyes rolled back. He was clawing the sheets, finding purchase. The taller man reached for Kyungsoo’s cock and he started pumping it in rhythm with his thrust. A few more thrust and pump on his cock, Kyungsoo was crying out, body turning rigid, and spilling into his hands.

Chanyeol continued to drive his length into Kyungsoo’s hole. Kyungsoo was a whimpering mess underneath him, clawing, digging his nails on Chanyeol’s back this time. The pain was an added pleasure. And that was it. Chanyeol captured Kyungsoo’s lips and moaned into his mouth as he came deep into him. He slid in and out a few more times, riding out his orgasm. Then he stayed balls deep, trying to catch and regain his breath.

He removed his flaccid cock then. He watched, fascinated, as his cum leaked from Kyungsoo’s hole. Then he hovered once again on Kyungsoo, waiting for him to come back to him.

“You okay?” Chanyeol’s voice was hoarse. 

Kyungsoo nodded and smiled, his heart-shaped smile. He slurred. “It was amazing.”

Chanyeol pecked him on the lips. “You’re amazing.”

Kyungsoo continued to smile wantonly.

“We should clean up,” Chanyeol was about to get up when Kyungsoo held his biceps, stopping him.

“Why would we need to clean up when we’re going to get dirty again…?”

Wow. What the fucking fuck?

Not that Chanyeol was complaining

  
  
  
  


Chanyeol woke up to a voice. 

He was lying on his stomach. His face burrowed into the pillow. He groaned but he wasn’t opening his eyes yet.

“... Park Chanyeol, I love you…”

That made his eyes open. He twisted around to lie on his back. Kyungsoo was sitting on the bed, hands on either side of Chanyeol and hovering above him. He was already dressed in a black t-shirt and black cap. He was leaving.

Right. Kyungsoo had to leave early today.

Chanyeol sat up groggily, aware that he was still stark naked. The blanket dropped to his lap. “You’re leaving already?”

Kyungsoo hummed and nodded.

“What time is it?” Chanyeol yawned.

“5:30…”

“See you later?” Chanyeol blinked lazily at him.

Kyungsoo hummed again. He leaned forward to kiss his forehead. “I’ve cooked you breakfast. Reheat it later and eat it before you leave for work.”

Chanyeol nodded, leaning into him. Kyungsoo smelled so nice. A mix of his own cologne and Chanyeol’s soap.

“Don’t skip your meals, okay?” Kyungsoo kissed his cheek.

At this point, Chanyeol could only nod again. He wasn’t there yet and he felt like going back to sleep again. Kyungsoo sensed this. “Go back to sleep, Yeol. It’s still quite early. Sorry for waking you up.”

“It’s fine.” Chanyeol smiled at him. “I want to see you out. Let me just put on some clo-”

“No, it’s fine.” Kyungsoo held him by the shoulders. 

That was when he noticed that Kyungsoo’s cap was sitting low on his face and he couldn’t see his eyes.

“Just lie there and go back to sleep. You have a long day at work later. You need to rest.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol yawned again.

“I’ll be going then.” Kyungsoo stood up, picking up his duffle bag on the floor.

“Bye,” Chanyeol waved at him.

“Bye.” Kyungsoo headed for the door. He opened it. But then he paused and looked back at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol still couldn’t see his eyes.

Then Kyungsoo went back and kissed him on the mouth, surprising the latter. Kyungsoo pulled back before he could respond back.

“What was that for?” Chanyeol asked.

“Nothing,” Kyungsoo cleared his throat. “I just love you.”

“I love you too.” 

Then Kyungsoo was gone. Chanyeol blinked at the empty space before promptly going back to sleep. God, Kyungsoo tired him out last night.

  
  
  


_To all the days we’ve had together._

Chanyeol started his morning with his usual routine. He took a bath and scrubbed himself clean. After showering, he wiped the fog off the mirror in the bathroom so he could see his reflection in the mirror. 

There was a towel wrapped around his waist. He stared at his upper body covered in hickeys. Thankfully, his boyfriend was merciful enough not to leave hickeys high up on his neck. Though he had to wear sleeves underneath his scrub shirt because his scrub shirt had a low neckline and some hickeys would peek out. Baekhyun would not let him live it down if he saw it. Jongin and Jongdae too.

_It was the most surreal time of my life._

Once he had gotten dressed in a brown turtleneck, he followed Kyungsoo’s order to reheat his cooked food. He enjoyed Kyungsoo’s food in silence. Occasionally staring into space, lost in his thoughts, mostly about the amazing sex he and Kyungsoo had last night. He finished the food and left the dishes on the sink to be taken care of later when he got back. He quickly whipped up his own coffee into his tumbler to be brought to the hospital, since he had no breakfast date where he could get his coffee. Moments later, a tumbler, coat in one hand, and satchel bag slung on his shoulder, he left his apartment.

In the hospital, he was greeted by every medical personnel that came on his way. He did the same, smiling brightly at them. 

_I never thought that it was possible to be this happy with someone I’ve just met._

He went straight to his office, dumping his things in there and changing into navy blue long sleeves and his light blue surgeon’s scrub. He had an early OR schedule before his outpatient consultations in his clinic. Then he was making a beeline to the OR unit. It was going to be a long day for sure. But it’s okay. It was going to be his free day tomorrow so he was going to be really busy today to make up for it. 

He was diligently washing his hands at the sink in the OR hall, scrubbing his nails with a sponge to make sure they’re totally clean. While washing, he vaguely thought about his plans for tomorrow with Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo had asked him what he wanted to do. So they were going to an aquarium park in the afternoon because Chanyeol suddenly wanted to see a dolphin. He had never been into an aquarium park since he was twelve. At sunset, they would ride the Hangang River Ferry Cruise that would sail across Han River. They would watch the sunset while standing on the deck. That was where they would also eat dinner. Then later at night, they would watch the fireworks and his birthday would end in a hotel. He couldn’t wait. He smiled behind his mask.

Chanyeol headed into the one operating room, hands dripping with water. The patient was already on the operating table, hooked to several tubes, and waiting to be fixed up. Sehun was already by the door, assisting him in putting on the protective clothing and the gloves. His medical loop glasses were already up his nose. Then he went to the operating table to start.

_I am thankful, too, you know, thankful to the universe that conspired so our paths would cross. More importantly, thank you, for patiently waiting for me to come to my senses and realize how much I am in love with you too. Thank you for staying by my side and listening to my difficulties without judgment._

It was by noon when Chanyeol came out of the OR. He was contemplating heading straight to his clinic and eating lunch later because there were patients waiting for him there, but then Kyungsoo’s voice echoed in his head. _Don’t skip your meals, okay?_

Chanyeol sighed and checked his phone. There were no messages from Kyungsoo. Baekhyun came up to him a bit later, dragging him to the cafeteria for a quick lunch.

His outpatient duties dragged through the afternoon. There were stubborn patients that Chanyeol was close to pulling out his own hair because they acted like they knew better than the medical professional who was advising them on what they had to do. Even if it’s a matter of life or death, sometimes they wouldn’t listen. It frustrated Chanyeol the most. Though, he couldn't help but sympathize with his patients and their own circumstances. He tried to help as much as he could but there were only limited things he could do as well.

_You made this miserable life I am going through a little bit easier because you’re on my side throughout it all. I don’t feel as much worthless as I usually feel because you’re always there to assure me that I’m doing okay. And it was all I needed to wake up to another day, knowing that you’re going to wait for me in our favorite cafe._

Chanyeol was bone-tired at the end of the day as usual. But he still had his ER duties so it wasn’t like he could pack it up and go home to crash on his bed. And also, he was thinking about his day tomorrow with Kyungsoo, it was enough to give him another boost to get through his ER shift.

“Sup!” Chanyeol raised his coffee cup to Yixing when he saw him standing by the nurse station. 

Yixing only nodded at him since he was busy with a medical chart on the counter.

“Where’s Jongdae and Jongin?” Chanyeol asked leaning back on the counter and sipping on his coffee.

“Attending a patient,” Yixing said.

“We’ve only got a few patients today, huh,” Chanyeol noticed, staring at the empty beds ahead.

Yixing looked up and glared at him. “Don’t say that! You’re going to jinx it by noticing it and then later we’ll be hit by an influx of patients.”

“Right, sorry.”

Then, as if right on cue, the ER door opened from the outside, three people came in. One of them was a woman hunched over and being supported by the other two to walk. She looked to be in pain. A nurse came to them and guided them to the nearest bed.

“See, what did I tell you?” Yixing was also looking at the newcomers.

Chanyeol waved at him.”Eyy, that’s just one patient and I’ll take care of that.” He put down his coffee cup and approached the patient.

And then after treating that patient, another batch came in with different complaints. Yixing was throwing him a look from across. Chanyeol didn’t believe much in superstition but he hated it when Yixing’s prediction was getting real as the night went on. Chanyeol treated patients left and right, shuffling from one bed to another and giving them the most efficient medical care as much as possible because he knew that there were people who were waiting for their turn to be treated.

“What did I tell you?” Yixing walked past him.

Chanyeol only rolled his eyes and then went to the next patient. A bit later, the tall doctor got a bit of break to finally drink water from the dispenser in the corner of the nurse station. His lips were parched and his throat dry. He also sneaked in eating a bread roll (dinner) from the ER stash. He was checking his phone as stood by the water dispenser. It was past ten in the evening and he would clock out later. There was still no text from Kyungsoo. He wondered how busy his boyfriend might have been. No text from Kyungsoo could happen sometimes. So he didn’t make a big deal out of it. Besides, they would see each other tomorrow anyway.

“Dr. Park!”

He turned in the direction of the voice as he drank from his paper cup.

It was Jongin. “K-Kyungsoo-”

Speaking of the devil. Finally, he would get a glimpse of his tiny boyfriend before his day ended.

“Got it!” Chanyeol discarded the cup and the empty pack of the bread roll. He whipped out his stethoscope, wondering who on earth Kyungsoo managed to bring in this time. A member of a gang, perhaps? It had been a while since he had brought in one of those.

“B-but i-it’s not-” Jongin stuttered.

“What?” Chanyeol walked past the nurse and towards the beds, finding Kyungsoo. “Who did he bring in this time-”

A strangled cry erupted from Chanyeol’s lips as he jerked back, hand covering his mouth in shock.

He had managed to find Kyungsoo alright.

Kyungsoo was the one lying on the stretcher, unconscious and covered in his own blood.

_I am sorry. I might have lied to you about something. I just didn’t want to worry you and mom so much. I am going to do my best to stay alive though. We still have to celebrate your birthday properly this time. I am really looking forward to it because I’ve never been on Hangang Cruise on a date. I’m quite excited actually. But just in case, something happened to me. I already did an early celebration with you. I want to leave a little happy memory on your birthday with me. Something I hope you would remember with a smile._

_I’m sorry, Park Chanyeol, I love you._

Chanyeol’s mind might have gone blank by then. There was a sudden ringing in his ears.

It wasn’t making any sense. Why would Kyungsoo be lying there instead? What had happened?

He suddenly couldn’t hear anything. And all he could see was Kyungsoo, lying on the bed, unconscious, drenched in his own blood.

His worst nightmare was coming to life.

“PARK CHANYEOL!”

Chanyeol gasped. Suddenly, Yixing was in front of him gripping both of his arms. He looked over Yixing’s shoulder, Jongdae and Jongin were scrambling around to attend Kyungsoo’s injuries.

“PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!” Yixing shouted at him, shaking him from his daze.

“If you're not going to be of any help here, get out! I'm going to call another CS. Kyungsoo has got a thoracic gunshot wound and he's unresponsive, you moron.” Yixing continued to spat in his face.

“No!” Chanyeol managed to let out in between his gasps. “I-I’m doing it!

“Are you sure-?”

“YES!” Chanyeol growled. Adrenaline suddenly cursed in his veins as he shoved Yixing aside. He walked past him and towards Kyungsoo’s bedside.

Chanyeol needed to save Kyungsoo. They were still going on a date. Maybe not tomorrow but in the next days to come. Kyungsoo owed him.

Strangely, he felt focused on the whole thing. He looked at the heart monitor indicating Kyungsoo’s vitals. They were all flat-line; 0. His clothes had been torn and there was a bullet wound on the right side of the chest. The wound was dangerously close to the heart. The bleeding had been controlled and Jongin was covering the wound with a gauze pad. Jongdae was performing intubation.

“We’ll perform resuscitative thoracotomy,” Chanyeol said. Thankfully his voice was steady, unlike how his body felt like it was trembling. A nurse came up to him to help him put on protective clothing. He also put on a pair of gloves.

Chanyeol had a fair share of bizarre experiences as a doctor. He thought that he had gotten used to it as time went by. But nothing had prepared him for something like this.

On the 27th of November, on his birthday, he was slicing open his boyfriend to remove the bullet lodged in his chest, while the said boyfriend was fighting for his life. 

It was a miracle to be honest, that Kyungsoo was still alive, somehow.

They had managed to revive Kyungsoo, and he was immediately transferred to the OR. The operation wasn’t easy because of the complexity of the procedure. Kyungsoo bled a lot while on the table, and he almost went into shock, but Chanyeol managed to prevent it from worsening.

And when Chanyeol was stitching close the perforated inferior vena cava of Kyungsoo’s heart, he went into cardiac arrest.

As if Kyungsoo was really on the verge of giving up. He wasn’t, was he? 

But Chanyeol wouldn’t let him. He wouldn’t let go of Kyungsoo that easily without putting up a fight. Kyungsoo would still need to hear an earful from Chanyeol for all the stress he had caused him overnight, and that too on his birthday.

So Chanyeol persevered even though he was also on a hair-trigger of going into a panic attack because he was suddenly doubting if he could really save Kyungsoo at all, wondering if another surgeon should have done it instead. It had been a long time since he experienced this kind of doubt because he was usually a confident person.

But when it came to Kyungsoo. The doctor was always overwhelmed with so many emotions, emotions that were like geysers blasting off and erupting from the cracks within, intense and powerful.

It all became a blur, Chanyeol was functioning mostly on adrenaline and muscle memory to get things done successfully. And before he knew it, he was closing up Kyungsoo’s chest cavity, but not before literally touching Kyungsoo’s heart, just to feel the beat of it, a proof that he was still alive, even though barely.

And when he came out of the OR, that was when it came down, crashing on him.

Chanyeol stumbled into the corner of the OR hallway after the surgery. He suddenly felt dizzy and his eyes blurred again. This time, he let the tears flow freely down his cheeks as he crumbled down on the floor. He curled himself into a ball as he hugged his knees tight. He cried, gasping for breath and clutching his scrub cap in one hand.

 _Oh my god._ He almost lost Kyungsoo. No, it was like they were still walking on a thin rope because Kyungsoo had to wake up first in a few days. If not, he would fall into a coma and possibly not wake up anymore.

And then Chanyeol remembered all those times together with Kyungsoo, their banter and arguments, their fucking grocery shopping, their breakfast dates, and how they would watch his favorite dramas on TV. All those memories just made Chanyeol cry harder, choking on his breath.

Because what if they couldn’t do it anymore now, what if..

And the thought of losing Kyungsoo scared Chanyeol more than the thought of losing his own life. He couldn’t lose Kyungsoo. He couldn’t bear it. He loved him so much that he didn’t know what life was anymore without him; not being able to see that heart-shaped smile, taste his cooking, not being able to cuddle with him anymore, or hearing that deep and low voice calling his name. They were all a significant part of his life now. 

He was never a believer in divine intervention. But just this once, he was going to plead to all the deities and saints up there to spare his Kyungsoo. 

_Please don’t take him away. Please save him._

“Dr. Park?”

Chanyeol looked up. His vision was still blurry with tears, but he could make out the figure who was standing before him; it was Sehun.

“W-what are you doing here?” Sehun asked, half-alarmed at Chanyeol’s ruined state.

“Sehun-ah…” Chanyeol sobbed. “Kyungsoo…”

“Is going to be fine,” Sehun said firmly. He knelt in front of Chanyeol. “I was in the OR with you. You saw how his heart is beating. He’s going to be fine.”

“But there are still post-op complications and we don’t even know if he would wake up-”

“Do you trust Kyungsoo?”

Chanyeol hiccupped. 

“Kyungsoo is a police officer and a fighter. Trust him that he would wake up for you. Above all, trust yourself that you’d take good care of him, not just your boyfriend but as his doctor. You’re one of the best surgeons I’ve ever met, Chanyeol. And Kyungsoo has you.”

Chanyeol cried even more on Sehun's shoulder.

He couldn’t sleep, not even a wink.

Later on, Chanyeol learned the cause of Kyungsoo’s gunshot wound. Kim Minseok came to him early that morning to ask about Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo had lied to Chanyeol. The case where Kim Minseok was involved had not yet been over until the 26th. After Minseok’s incident, they had figured out that Minseok’s assailant had been involved in a huge syndicate. It had taken them months to get the necessary information on how to bring down that huge syndicate. And on the 26th, Kyungsoo had been part of the biggest raid so far. So, the police officer had also lied about the supposed briefing and long meeting they would have that day. 

It had been scheduled ahead of time because they had been waiting for the syndicate boss to arrive that day. It was a total blood bath. Kyungsoo had been wearing a bulletproof vest in the beginning, but he had given it to the younger officer who lost his vest. And then, he had gotten shot. 

Minseok told him that Kyungsoo was still a bit lucky that he only sustained only one gunshot wound unlike some of their fellow officers who lost their lives when they had been shot multiple times.

Then it dawned on Chanyeol why Kyungsoo brought a cake early. The way he had wanted to spend the night with him before Kyungsoo had gone to…

Chanyeol felt like crying again.

He cried again when Kyungsoo’s mother and brother came in. He softened the blow of the news as much as he could for Sungmi’s sake. He told them that Kyungsoo was wheeled down to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and that he was strong enough to wake up after a few days. He didn’t tell her how Kyungsoo had lost so much blood, and how he was still teetering on the edge, condition frail and weak.

Sungmi cried in Chanyeol’s arms. Chanyeol tried to calm her as much as he could because it was risky for her heart. But it was hard to do so when he was also crying as much.

Chanyeol left Kyungsoo’s family in a room dedicated to the relatives of the patients in the ICU. They couldn’t visit Kyungsoo for now, so all they could do right now was watch Kyungsoo behind a glass window.

Baekhyun and the ER gang also came to see Kyungsoo. Chanyeol told them the truth about Kyungsoo’s condition. And he was reassured the same way Sehun had reassured him. Chanyeol wanted to hope but it didn't mean that he wasn’t as scared as before. Baekhyun also threatened him that he would sedate Chanyeol if he didn’t rest. He hadn’t gotten a good rest, much less sleep, because his mind was a whirlwind of mess.

Reluctantly, Chanyeol tried to take a nap in his office. 

He successfully did take a nap for an hour or so until his office phone rang. He woke up startled and groggily answered the phone. It was the Reception Desk, telling him that there was a package addressed for him and it seemed like it came from a jewelry store.

Chanyeol was confused because he hadn’t ordered anything from a jewelry store lately. Nonetheless, he told them that he would come downstairs to get it.

When he reached the Reception Desk, the woman behind the counter gave him a black square box. _Omiataka Jewelry_ was engraved in a silver calligraphic script in the bottom corner. The doctor thanked the receptionist before walking to the nearest couch in the lobby to open the box. He removed the tape that secured it, then he took off the lid.

Chanyeol was taken aback. Nestled inside the box were two silver rings. There was also a black envelope inside.

He picked up the envelope and put the box on his lap. He opened the envelope and there was silver glossy stationery in it. But what shocked Chanyeol more was to see Kyungsoo’s neat handwriting in it.

  
  
  
  
_Hi baby,_

_If you’re reading this, something must have gone wrong with me from the raid, and I failed to personally get the box from the jewelry store in the morning and discard this letter before our date. So the jewelry store automatically delivered this to you in the hospital since you’re always there, more than in your own house._

_Happy birthday. You said that you don’t want any gift but I couldn’t just let your birthday pass without giving you anything._

_I don’t know what might have happened to me as you read this but I want you to know that if we’re going to be given a chance, I want to be with you in ten, twenty, thirty, hundred years even. But then, if our time together was destined to be always cut short, it’s okay, I’m still so happy to spend my remaining days with you. I love you._

_DKS_

  
  


On the 27th of November, on his birthday, Chanyeol cried multiple times in agony, including that time that he crumbled once again in the lobby. Not caring if the people around him were watching him in pity. He was sure that his cries and the ache in his heart could be heard from miles away. He refused to accept that time had never been on their side, and their future together was just a big blank void from the beginning.

There was no cake that day. Only a wish whispered quietly into the thin air. A prayer of a desperate heart. 

_Please, come back to me._

  
The wait for Kyungsoo to wake up was torture.

Chanyeol practically lived in the ICU, monitoring Kyungsoo for the next few days. Uncertainty about the future was eating him alive from the inside out. He already did the best that he could as a doctor and the rest was up to Kyungsoo now.

“Wake up now, baby,” Chanyeol murmured on the second day. He held Kyungsoo’s hand and lightly squeezed it, half-hoping that Kyungsoo would squeeze his hand back as some sort of response. He received nothing. 

Kyungsoo looked so pale, hooked into several tubes. It did nothing but give another pang to Chanyeol’s heart.

The next day, Chanyeol was starting to get agitated. Kyungsoo was taking too long to wake up. He also started to develop pneumonia, though mild and wouldn’t post an immediate threat if treated right, it didn’t lessen his worries. Worst case scenario, Kyungsoo would end up with lung failure, heart attack, or a stroke. Take a pick.

“You said you wanted to be with me for the next hundred years,” Chanyeol’s whispers were almost pleading. He was still holding Kyungsoo’s hand. “Wake up for me, please.”

On the fifth day, Chanyeol decided to conduct a clinical discussion with other doctors regarding Kyungsoo’s case. He was getting even more desperate. Maybe there was something he had missed before, and that was why Kyungsoo wouldn’t wake up. Aside from his pneumonia, Kyungsoo hadn’t developed any clotting. There was no post-surgery infection, yet. So what was wrong?

He was just finishing his rounds and he would go to the clinical discussion when he had received a phone call.

He answered it. “Park Chanyeol, speaking…”

Then Chanyeol was running through, tearing through the hallway. He might have bumped into some other people along the way. But he couldn’t care less all he could think about was Kyungsoo and how he needed to be in the ICU immediately.

He reached Kyungsoo’s bed, panting and out of breath. Another doctor and two nurses were at the bedside too.

Chanyeol stared at Kyungsoo’s pale face.

He couldn’t breathe again.

He stared some more.

Because Kyungsoo was staring back at him.

His Kyungsoo was finally awake.

Chanyeol’s knees buckled as he knelt and collapsed on the floor. He started to cry. A huge weight had been lifted off his chest. He had been crying lately and it was not news for some medical personnel to see his breakdowns. Probably, the entire hospital knew how he was a cry-baby for Kyungsoo. But who cares about that, right? The important thing was Kyungsoo was awake.

Chanyeol blindly reached for Kyungsoo’s hand. Because his eyes were shut, trying to hold back his escaping tears. 

Finally, Kyungsoo squeezed his hand back, albeit weakly. It was another beginning.

It took two weeks for Kyungsoo to finally be up on his two feet. His condition continued to improve. If there would be no setback with his health, he could be discharged in a matter of days.

“You know,” Chanyeol said as he pushed Kyungsoo’s wheelchair. They made their way through the hallway leisurely. Kyungsoo had been itching to get out of his room because he had felt like he was being imprisoned already. So Chanyeol was taking him on a field trip around the hospital. “I already know how Kang Mo Yeon felt-”

“Who?” Kyungsoo twisted in his seat to look at him. He was frowning.

Chanyeol vaguely waved into the air. “Kang Mo Yeon! That doctor on that drama, Descendants of the Sun-”

Kyungsoo chuckled, shaking his head. He leaned back on his seat. “You and your drama.”

“Have you watched that?”

“No.”

“I’ll make you watch it. It’s fun.” Chanyeol said determinedly. “Anyway, Kang Mo Yeon was a doctor too. Then she had a boyfriend who’s a soldier. There’s also a part there that Kang Mo Yeon had to witness his boyfriend bleeding to death while being wheeled to the hospital she worked at. I could already relate to what she felt at that moment.”

“Sorry.”

They stopped by the transparent glass wall that separated the garden. Chanyeol turned around and knelt in front of Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo’s head hung low as he played with the hem of his hospital sleeves.

“You still owe me a date,” Chanyeol said.

“Yes. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” Kyungsoo bowed.

Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile at that. His boyfriend was so adorable sometimes. He reached for Kyungsoo’s hand that didn’t have an IV needle stuck to it. On his ring finger, a silver band gleamed under the light. Chanyeol was wearing the matching ring. He pressed Kyungsoo’s hand on his cheek.

“I’m just happy that you’re okay now,” Chanyeol said, gazing up at Kyungsoo lovingly. “Thank you for coming back to me, to us.”

Kyungsoo caressed his cheek as the latter leaned into his touch. “I had to. I wanted to be with you.”

“For a hundred years?” Chanyeol beamed at him.

Kyungsoo smiled too. “For a hundred years.”

Chanyeol kissed the back of his hand.

“You know, I think I understand now what you meant about the things that you regret when you’re literally dying,” Kyungsoo said.

Chanyeol said nothing so Kyungsoo continued.

“The first thing that came to my mind when I was losing consciousness after I got shot was how I should have retaken my bar exam. I kept on postponing making up my mind until I realized that I don’t have much time left to actually do it.”

“So are you going to retake it now?” The doctor asked.

Kyungsoo nodded. “I’m going to quit the police force to study. I want to try again. Even if I fail again, I won’t stop trying until I finally pass.”

“That’s my Kyungsoo.” Chanyeol kissed his hand again.

And then Chanyeol noticed something through the glass wall, outside the garden.

“Oh!” Chanyeol pointed outside. “It’s snowing. The first snow of the year!”

Kyungsoo gazed back outside. His eyes were wide in amazement. “Woah.”

They watched the first snow that night with warm hearts and hands linked together. A distant future was shining bright ahead. 

  
  
  


**_(Extra)_ **

Chanyeol knocked on Dr. Kim Junmyeon’s clinic. A nurse had informed him that the doctor was still in his clinic. He was holding a box of macaroons.

No one answered his knock. The door was even locked so he wondered if he was really there, or the doctor might have left already. He knocked again.

There was still no answer. He was about to turn around and leave when the door slid open. A disheveled Sehun with his rumpled uniform greeted him. Chanyeol was startled.

“What the..?” Chanyeol stared at Sehun. “This isn’t the OR.”

“Yes, it isn’t.”

“Are you having a consultation with Dr. Kim? Is he there?”

“Yes, a very heated consultation. And yes, he’s still here.” Sehun stepped aside.

Chanyeol pressed his lips together to avoid laughing. He went inside. He saw Junmyeon adjusting his necktie while sitting on the table.

“Oh, Chanyeol-ah! What brings you here all of a sudden?” Junmyeon greeted him.

“I’m sorry for any interruption. I won’t take long. I just want to give this to you.” Chanyeol placed the box on the table.

Junmyeon blinked at the box. “What is that for?”

“A thank you gift for asking me to bring a file to the ER one night."

"Huh?"

Chanyeol only beamed at him.

**Author's Note:**

> weew. just a but of a disclaimer that i know it's hard to see the stars in the city but for the sake of the fic, let it be, and there was one fine day that chanyeol was able to show off his space knowledge with kyungsoo to impress him. 🤣
> 
> And also i sincerely hope no medical professionals have read this fic🤣 i feel like i just butchered the medical procedures in here. But i had fun writing this. i hope you had fun reading this as well. hit me up on the comments section for your thoughts, i would love to see them! thank you for reading! ciao!


End file.
